Arpeggios and Woah Woahs
by liz-loz
Summary: My 1st fanfiction. Kurt and Rachel embark on a spying mission to suss out competition for Sectionals. However for Kurt the experience turns out to be much more than a simple mission. Small details have been changed from the original TV plots but not much
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Ow! That's my toe!" We really were the worst spies ever. When Puck had suggested it would be a good idea to have a look at our competition for sectionals, I hadn't thought it would involve crouching behind bushes with Rachel. I'm sure she was only here to see who the main soloist was, and if he was better than her. Having a girl and a guy with no uniforms sneak around a boys school hadn't been my idea either but Artie, Finn and Brittany had all been ruled out and Mercedes, Sam and Mike were at the old people's home, so I suppose we had the best deal.

"Sorry" I peered over the bush at the castle like building we were trying to enter and saw a small gap in the hedge nearby. It was going to ruin the blue dress Rachel was wearing, but if she really wanted to see if Dalton knew their arpeggios from their woah woahs she could squeeze through it. I signalled for us to go and we scampered over, my heart beating faster from the adrenalin of it all.

* * *

You had to admit, Dalton was a beautiful school. The halls were covered with photos of uniformed boys playing hockey, soccer, even croquet. Normally I would have been distracted by it all, but these weren't the boys we were looking for. Stalking across the patterned wooden floor we followed signs until finally we heard the sounds we were searching for – singing.

At first it only seemed like one universal voice, a very tuneful voice at that, but as we got closer harmonies began to appear and weave through each other like a musical painting, making my pulse race faster. When we finally reached the door to the music room and peered through the window we saw they were dancing too. These guys were good.

"Wow." I turned to look at Rachel and saw her expression was livid – the soloist was your typical prep school boy, side parting and manly good looks, smartly dressed as all the other boys were. His voice was exceptional and he led the rest of the group perfectly. I watched him for a while, transfixed at the beauty of it all, before suddenly the peace was disturbed by a short sharp and terrifying cough.

"Excuse me?" I whipped my head round and immediately my stomach dropped. We'd been caught. "What exactly do you two think you're doing here?"

"Umm…um…" Rachel, normally never able to keep her mouth shut, was lost for words. I'm sure we'd gone through excuses on the trip here, but due to our clearly unfound arrogance had simply assumed we wouldn't be caught. Dammit.

"Um…" I was struggling too, the beady-eyed professor, with wispy grey hair and a rather ugly tweed jacket flexing his fingers as if he was ready to grab both out collars and march us off the premises.

"We're waiting…for our brothers." Immediately Rachel shot me a look, this not being part of our carefully orchestrated plan. The professor smiled.

"Oh really? And who might your brothers be?"

"Him!" Rachel suddenly blurted, pointing to a boy that had just appeared near us. I had a stop myself from hitting my forehead – as he was small and ginger, looking nothing like either of us it was a pretty stupid decision.

"No Rachel, not him, our _real_ brothers are in there _remember_?" By now the professor was having a field day, his snide grin stretching almost from one pointy ear to the other.

"Well well, if they're inside we might as well go and say hello." Before we could protest he opened the music room door and pushed us both inside.

* * *

The sound of our entry made the Warblers stop and all turn in sync to look at what had interrupted their practice.

"Hello boys." The professor chimed gleefully. "Sorry to interrupt proceedings, but it seems two of you have people that have come to pick you up." The gazes switched to us and I felt my cheeks flame up like a stove. Oh god, we were in so much trouble. "Do any of you happen to recognise your _siblings,_ or will you give me the satisfaction of removing them forcefully from the school?" There was a painful silence. I closed my eyes waiting for bony fingers to press against me again. Surely spying wasn't a terrible sin… Dalton had a no bullying policy. Although we were definitely not students.

"Well thank you-" The professor had been about to embark on a satisfied speech, however he was suddenly interrupted by another voice.

"-He's my brother." I froze. What? There was another stunned silence, this time from the professor and slowly I opened my eyes to see who our saviour was. It was the soloist – he'd been examining us before I'd closed my eyes and now he was staring right at me. I blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean Blaine?" The professor now sounded angry, if I hadn't been so shocked I might have laughed. The soloist gave me a pointed look and I realised I was going to have to co-operate.

"He's my brother. R…Rachel's" I'd mouthed the name to him as discreetly as I could, "brother has gone to…the toilet." He smiled, satisfied with his performance and I let out a sign of relief.

"And why" the professor began, his anger audible in his voice now, "did you refrain from telling me this until _now?_"

"I haven't seen him in a while." Blaine said smiling at me "He's been on holiday to New York with my parents." And that explained my slightly lighter complexion compared to his. God he was good. A growing more good looking the more I looked at him. I turned to look at Rachel, who almost seemed ill with relief and the professor, whose complexion now looked like he'd been in a sun bed for too long.

"Well, I guess now that's cleared up we can wait outside again-" I said, trying not to sound too smug but definitely feeling it.

"-Oh no, don't worry – you can wait here. We're nearly finished." Spinning round I saw a wicked grin on Blaine's face in response to my once again confused expression. Dammit, I guess we weren't completely out of the woods, but it certainly beat being manhandled by the professor.

"We can take it from here Professor Hardy." With an exasperated sigh the professor spun round and left the classroom, prompting a few sniggers from the boys. As the door closed silence descended on the room again, an awkward silence and Rachel and I both tried to figure out what to do. Blaine was looking at me again and it was making me feel uncomfortable.

"Well, why don't you sit down? We'll be finished in a minute."

* * *

If the Warblers didn't want us to see their songs for Sectionals they did a pretty bad job – we were treated to a private concert with acoustics far better than they'd been the other side of the door. I couldn't tell if they were showing off, or simply nice guys. One thing that couldn't be debated however was how good they were. Very good. Rachel and I exchanged glances throughout the performances, her looking very worried and me just happy to be enjoying the music. After all, it wasn't always about competing.

When the old looking clock on the wall struck 5pm exactly the boys finished their practice, an element of precision I guessed ran through most of their lives at Dalton. Boys straightened their lapels moved slightly out of place by exaggerated swaying and combs came out of pockets to put back wayward stands of hair. I looked at Rachel wondering if we should make a run for it now and she seemed to agree. We tried to stand up as quietly as possible but my leg caught against the seat of the wooden stool I'd been sitting on making it scrape loudly across the floor. Blaine, who'd been collecting up sheet music and placing it neatly in a leather-bound folder, glanced up.

"Leaving so soon? Surely you'll stay and have a talk." I almost winced at the charm in his voice and the friendly smile on his face - it was hard to tell if he was playing a game or generally being nice – he had saved our butts after all. Rachel nudged me and signalled towards the door, but for some reason I didn't want to leave. I tried to kid myself it was because if we spoke to them we'd probably get an even better jist of what their tactics were, but really I was just intrigued, especially by Blaine. Nervously I stayed where I was and he smiled, closing the folder and heading our way.

As he walked towards us he was immediately flanked by two other boys – something that made me think he must be an extremely important part of the group. Maybe if we could crack him we could get them all. He walked slowly and casually, stopping a foot away from both of us and holding out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Blaine. You are Rachel and you are?"

"Kurt." He smiled, shaking my hand and then Rachel's. His grip was strong and firm.

"This is Wes and this is David." Attention was now turned to the two guys flanking Blaine, one of them tall with coiffed blone hair and the other muscular with dark skin and a frizzy black afro. Both of them smiled equally as cheesily, however David was looking at Rachel with what could only be described as lust in his eyes.

"I have a boyfriend! Don't get any ideas." I heard her snap, stepping away from his outstretched hand and I had to stifle my giggle as his expression immediately fell. When I looked back at Blaine I saw he was staring at me again and failed to stop my cheeks from flushing slightly.

"Come on Kurt, let's go." Rachel grabbed my arm and began dragging me out of the room. I tried to protest but she was surprisingly strong and I only had time give a quick sorry glance to the three boys before I was back in the corridor. Ironically the last words I heard was David's sad expression of

"But she was so hot!"

* * *

Rachel was livid the whole journey back to McKinley. I'm not sure if it was having another boy come on to her, or the fact that we were now in serious trouble for sectionals, but it took several Streisand songs for her to even begin to smile again.

"They were generic. Anyone can put together some harmonies and sway in time. I was doing that with my Barbies when I was three." I smiled at her grumbling and thought about Blaine's smile. At least we would have some real competition this year.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Five six seven eight!" The opening music started up again and I groaned. Mr Shue was being relentless today. Even Puck, who never stopped boasting about the number of reps he could do at the gym without breaking a sweat looked shattered. Finn, who struggled with the choreography on a normal day, kept crashing into people and messing up his words as a result. If anyone had been filming us they could have made millions selling it to blooper tape shows.

"And I owe it all to you!" I was making as much effort as I could with my singing, probably the most apart from Rachel, who having been demoted for this number was striving to be the most enthusiastic back up singer anybody had ever seen, but I could feel the tiredness in my limbs. We struggled through the song, the energy picking up a bit at the end when everybody was singing together and when it finally ended everybody collapsed onto the stage in a heap.

"Right guys! This is good! I want every practice to be like this – singing until you can barely stand!"

"That's ok for you to say Mr Shue, you just get to watch us." Artie said, his arms probably burning from wheeling himself up and down the stage ramps so many times.

"We've nearly got it too, just a bit more practice and we'll be there. See you all tomorrow." He shut up his folder and everybody groaned with relief, Rachel and Finn immediately staggering towards each other to keep themselves steady.

* * *

As we all packed up individually I glanced around the auditorium I now called home. It was weird to imagine performing out of here, but we'd have to do it. As I scanned the upper seats with their red coverings I saw a figure sitting at the back and dropped my books in shock.

"Kurt? Are you ok?" Mercedes asked, looking concerned. I looked down to the mess I'd created with my cheeks burning again. It couldn't be him. The nerve… When Mercedes and I had collected up all my things I looked up again and to my horror saw that it was him – Blaine had walked down from the top of the auditorium and was now metres away from the stage. He had that smile on his face again, the annoyingly charming one.

"Who is this?" Mercedes asked, a note of suspicion in her voice. Blaine walked up the ramp and without saying anything held out his hand

"I'm Blaine. Pleased to meet you." As they shook hands warily I cringed, still not quite believing he was here. It was clever, very clever, but that still didn't mean I liked it.

"How do you know Kurt?" Mercedes asked, still not buying the friendly aura Blaine was giving off. Her posture was tense, like he was ready for a fight at any moment.

"I don't know him that well really-" I started, my voice rushed and embarrassed. I moved to stand in between them both but Blaine put his hand on my arm and stopped me next to him.

"-We're friends."

"Oh. Ok then." I thought about asking Mercedes for help, but at the same time I wanted to have a serious talk with Blaine. About sneaking in on our practice for a start. "Do you want to walk with me?"

"Um, sorry Mercedes" I began, scratching the back of my head nervously as I spoke, "but Blaine and I should probably have a talk. About, stuff." Mercedes' expression fell slightly but she managed a smile.

"Well, see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you."

I watched her walk off slowly, rubbing the side of my face and feeling the hot auditorium lights beat against my skin. When he was a safe enough distance away I immediately spun around and launched my assault.

* * *

"What the HELL are you doing here?" Blaine laughed, obviously expecting such a response and I glared at him. "Well?"

"Don't I at least get a 'hi'?"

"No, you don't. Not when you're not supposed to be in here."

"Hey, I only wanted to prove to you that prep school boys can spy too. Although apparently much better." I didn't have time to stop my hand smack into Blaine's arm, but before I could apologise he laughed again. "Sorry, sorry – I know I shouldn't be here, but I was curious you know? I hear it's a common thing nowadays." I let out an exasperated sigh, looking at the ground. I couldn't argue – he was only doing what we'd done to them, but all the same it was still annoying that he'd probably seen the whole performance. Rachel would be furious.

"How did you get in?" I asked, still avoiding eye contact.

"Well, mixed school, no uniform, open auditorium – it's not exactly hard. Don't know why I've never dome it before to be honest." I felt like hitting him again but this time managed to steady my hand. Blaine let out another chuckle – it was annoying how nice it sounded when he did that.

"I was impressed though. Very impressed." With this I looked up again.

"You serious?"

"Yeah, totally. I thought your backing singing was exquisite." I gave him a sarky look thinking he was teasing, but he shook his head.

"Ergh. Mr Shue made us do that song 20 times. I think I'm not going to want to watch Dirty Dancing ever again."

"Well I thought you all sold the story very well. Even if that guy kept falling over all the time." He smiled and I laughed.

"You mean Finn? Yeah, he's probably the most un-coordinated guy ever, but he's a great singer."

"You seemed to be having a lot of fun. You two close?" I laughed, wondering how to phrase my reply.

"He's my step-brother. It was kind of awkward at first, but now we're cool. Normally him and Rachel get the solos, but they're so sickly at the moment Mr Shue thought it would be nice to have a partnership that had the right amount of chemistry, without making the audience want to vomit." Blaine laughed, but I could see relief on his face.

"Rachel? That's-" As if on cue, a shrill scream erupted that filled the auditorium and made me put my hands over my ears.

"YOU! GET OUT!" Rachel stormed down the steps until she reached us, her expression almost as livid as when she'd first seen how good The Warblers were. I saw Blaine go to laugh but I put a hand on his arm to stop him. Now was not the time for jokes.

"Follow me, _now."_

_

* * *

_

We legged it out of the auditorium and into the parking lot; breathless laughter gracing our lips occasionally as we swerved around corners and gradually heard Rachel's shrieks fade away into the distance. When I gauged us to be a safe enough distance away I signalled a stop, and for a couple of seconds all that could be heard was the sound of our heavy breaths, sometimes in sync.

"I see she still doesn't have a shine for us then?" Blaine joked when he was able to talk again. It was only now I realised fully that he was not in uniform, nor was his hair scraped into the perfect side parting I'd seen at Dalton. He looked almost normal.

"She's only angry because we might actually have some competition this year. You should have been in the car on the way back from our mission."

"Your mission eh? Do you think you succeeded?"

"Well, we wouldn't if you hadn't saved our butts. I never thanked you for that by the way." Blaine smiled, obviously thinking back to the 'brother' debacle and I cringed simply remembering it.

"No problem. I wouldn't be a gentleman if I hadn't saved a damsel in distress." I gave him a sarcastic look but then suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, if you're here spying on us, why didn't you bring your bodyguards?" Blaine looked confused.

"Bodyguards?"

"Yeah, you know, those two guys that follow you everywhere?" Realisation spread across his face.

"Oh! You mean Wes and David? They thought it was childish and stupid, so I went by myself. I also had ulterior motives." With this last line he grinned his most cheeky grin yet. I looked confused, the cold winter wind beginning to bite.

"And what might those be?"

"Do you want to have a coffee with me?" Immediately my reflex was to step back.

"Blaine! I barely know you, you're on the rival Glee club, I-"

"Ok, ok." He interrupted, putting his hands out so they almost touched mine. "Let's try it differently. Wait here." To my surprise he ran off towards the roadside. I tried to follow him but he waved his arms "Wait!" He ran all the way to the road and then causally began to walk back, looking around as if he hadn't noticed I was there. When he got to within a few metres he suddenly looked at me and acted surprised.

"Oh, hello there, I'm Blaine – pleased to meet you!" He held out his hand and I shook it cautiously, not really understanding what was going on. "Hey, look, I know this is a bit forward, but I was just going to get a coffee, and I have a thing about being in places like that on my own – I don't suppose you could join me?" The realisation hit and I felt like punching him again.

"Blaine!"

"Yes, my names Blaine – I'm so sorry how rude of me not to ask yours." He looked at me pointedly and I folded my arms in protest.

"You know what my name is."

"How can I, I've never met you before." I shook my head, not wanting to buy into the game. I couldn't believe he was doing this – not after all that had happened. Not after he'd seen me drop all my books and blush at his constant smiles.

"Come on, I'll shout you – I bet you've never just met a guy who'd do that." Eventually I realised I wasn't going to get away with saying no, so begrudgingly nodded my head.

"Ok, fine. But enough with the games. You're so lame."

"Lame rhymes with Blaine, I can work with it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The coffee shop was warm and cosy, comforting compared to the whipping winds outside. My hands cupped my coffee, and I smiled in satisfaction. Blaine had followed through with his offer to pay so I'd only ordered something plain out of politeness. He on the other hand had gone to town with a hot chocolate covered in whipped cream and marshmallows. I wondered how after all the tuition fees, uniform and hair products he was still able to afford such extravagances.

"Sooo…" Blaine began once the customary coffee silence had run its course, "do you come here often?"

"Shut up." He dipped his spoon into the cream and I got a whiff of the hot chocolate underneath, making me salivate. I was beginning to wish I'd ordered it too.

"Do you want some?" I hadn't realised I'd been staring, and blushed. Blaine held out the spoon and I waved his hand away.

"No, you first." He slipped the spoon into his mouth and then took another spoonful before offering it to me again. I pointedly took it from his hand and ate it swiftly, quietly savouring the texture of the marshmallows.

"I have to say, we never thought of doing a duet for sectionals. Well, a duet with backing singers." I looked up and pondered the thought.

"Well, I suppose it'd be a bit tricky doing romantic ballads at an all boys school." Blaine laughed.

"Oh, believe me, you'd be surprised how many actual couples there are at Dalton." I raised my eyebrows and took a swig of my now rather bland but still refreshing coffee. "Not that I'm in any of them." He added quickly, making me look up.

"There's nothing wrong with being gay."

"I know, I am gay. I'm just not…in a relationship at the moment."

"Good to know." I laughed again and Blaine scowled at being the one made to look awkward. There was a slight pause as we both tried to figure something to say, Blaine, having devoured all the remaining cream now stirring his hot chocolate absentmindedly. I hadn't realised before how prominent his eyebrows were, they framed his face and made his eyes stand out like glimmering pools of brown.

"Is it hard, being in a school only with boys?" Blaine looked up and thought for a moment. I couldn't imagine having no girls at McKinley. No judging people's outfits with Mercedes or comparing blusher with Quinn… Plus I'd heard rumours that the girls at St Jades in Findlay screamed every time a guy walked anywhere near campus.

"Um, I guess sometimes. You get used to it though. When you live with the same people all the time you kind of become a family. We do venture into town occasionally though." He smiled again, lifting up his drink.

"This is a bit further than 'venturing into town.'"

"I was on a mission remember?"

* * *

It was then I realised how glad I was that Blaine had decided to spy. I hadn't had a proper conversation with a guy for ages (tutoring Finn for Spanish didn't count.) Just to sit here and chat, despite how it was potentially going to get me into a lot of trouble and I had a trig test I should probably be revising for, it was nice. Really nice. And now that I knew Blaine was gay. Well. I hadn't _ever_ had a nice chat with another gay guy before. Especially not an extremely attractive one.

"Do you have a curfew at Dalton?" I asked, breaking the silence as I remembered the old clock and the precise finish time of Warblers practice.

"Yup. 11pm exactly. No under age drinking for Blaine!"

"Oh." I wasn't sure if the fact that we had acres of time was a good thing or not. I'd drunk my coffee too fast and was beginning to regret not dragging the process out more.

"What about you?" Quick laughter escaped from my lips.

"As long as I'm not out socialising with any vagabonds and I keep my mobile turned on at all times I'd say midnight maximum. It's hard to enforce a strict curfew when you're working late all the time." I suddenly thought about Dad. Would I tell him about this when I got home? 'Dad, I met a guy…' I'd told him about our trip to Dalton, if only to comment on our meagre spying skills and Rachel's supposed ginger brother, but I hadn't mentioned Blaine. What would he say?

"Hey" I realised Blaine had seen my darkened look, his voice softening and his hand moving slightly towards me on the table, stroking the linoleum with his fingers. "My parents split when I was ten – I know what it's like with a single parent. Plus I don't see them much anyway." I was amazed how much he'd read into my simple words, how suddenly the cheeky bravado had been replaced with softness and care. I stared down at his fingers, still stroking the table-top slowly, and was overcome with an urge to grab them, hold them to my face, just to touch them. But I couldn't. I'd only just met the guy for Christ's sake. And it wasn't like we were on a date or anything – just two guys having coffee.

"You'd make a great guidance counsellor." I replied, trying to lighten the mood and stop my palms from sweating. Blaine smiled again, sending a rush of butterflies through my stomach that almost made me spit out my mouthful of coffee.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. I guess I just can't help myself sometimes. I'm like the gay Clark Kent." This time it was impossible for me to keep the coffee in. To my horror it didn't come out of my mouth, but squirted through my nose into my outstretched hand. I let out a mortified scream, turning away and scrabbling for serviettes with my other hand. Blaine was laughing loudly, adding to my embarrassment, but he kindly placed some in my hand and allowed me to wipe. If my cheeks hadn't been red before they were now, burning red like the embers of a bonfire. A huge, massive bonfire.

"Oh my Gaga!" I exclaimed after I'd cleared my face and hands "Oh my Gaga oh my Gaga…" I couldn't bring myself to look up, so rocked backwards and forwards in my chair staring in horror at the brown serviettes in my hands. A hand fell onto my shoulder and I cringed.

"Hey man, don't worry about it, happens to everyone-"

"-No it doesn't that is singularly the most disgusting thing I've ever done in my life!" I put my hands over my face and looked up between the gaps in my fingers. Blaine was still smiling, but also looking like he was trying to suppress laughter – oh why oh WHY did I have to do that in front of him? Mike, Sam, hey I'd even rather have Puck see coffee spurt out of my nose than Blaine. For a second we both looked at each other in silence, me still with my hands on my face burning bright red, until we could hold it in no longer and both burst out laughing.

"OH MY ARGH I can't believe I did that!" I moved my hands to my cheeks and shook my head, Blaine laughed some more, showing off his pearly white teeth and a ridiculously cute dimple before finally calming himself.

"Hey, think about it this way," He said, reaching forward to take one hand away from my face, "if I still like you after that then I think you're pretty set." It took all that was left of my self-restraint to stop the gasp release from my lips. I was glad he'd left one hand, as I had to use it to hold myself up. Jesus, I'd picked a good one. Fate had sent me to Dalton to get caught so I'd meet the guy of my dreams.

* * *

I don't know if it was visible on my face, the realisation of my crush, but before anything could be said or done about it my phone suddenly buzzed on the table. I thought about leaving it, but the buzzing continued and I realised Dad was calling.

"Hey Dad." I said when I answered, my voice embarrassingly a little shaky.

"Hey Kurt, are you nearly home? I need help with dinner." Instantly my heart sank. We were making Steak Dianne tonight – I'd totally forgotten.

"Yeah, sorry, I was just meeting up with a friend. Turn the oven on to 200 degrees and start chopping up the veg. I'll be home in a bit. Love you." I ended the call and glanced at Blaine to see he looked almost as put out as I did.

"Guess I have to go now." I said, holding up the phone if he didn't already know. "Trust me to have a Dad that can't cook steak without assistance."

"We will see each other again right?" Blaine replied. It had been the exact same thing I'd been thinking, hoping.

"Yeah, sure, you can buy me coffee again anytime." How was I joking at this point? My stomach felt like it was losing a part of itself. To meet someone so perfect and then not know when I'd get the chance to see him again…

"You can bet on it." I stood up quickly, my chair scraping against the floor and reminding me of the first time I'd met Blaine at Dalton. Disguising the flashback with a smile I slipped my phone into my pocket and my bag on my shoulder, turning back one last time.

"See you Blaine."

"See you Kurt. Soon."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

My crush on Blaine was serious. Hardcore serious.

As I walked through the hallway from the trig test I had probably failed, the skip in my step was undeniable, the smile on my face unmoveable. Blaine was on my mind, his smile, his hair, his lips, his voice. He was seared onto my brain and nothing was going to remove it.

"Somebody looks happy today." Tina appeared beside me and linked her arm with mine, mirroring my smile.

"I am." I replied, the bounce in my voice making me laugh.

"It's not that guy that came to see you yesterday is it?" Mercedes asked on my other side.

"A guy came to see Kurt?"

"Yeah, after Glee practice yesterday. I think he was watching."

"Ooh! Is he from here?"

"No. He-" I tried to explain but Tina interrupted me with an excited squeal.

"Wow Kurt! Your first real crush!" I decided to refrain from pointing out that my now step-brother had in fact been my first crush, but joined in with her girly laughter anyway, thanking God I had friends who understood these kinds of feelings. Rachel appeared at the end of the corridor and Mercedes waved to get her attention.

"Rachel! Kurt has a crush!" She exclaimed once she'd reached a close enough distance.

"Isn't that great?" Tina added, making me smile.

"If Kurt had any sense, he'd realise that fraternising with the enemy is _not_ conducive to winning." Everyone paused, shocked at Rachel's response.

"Rachel…"

"I guess he hasn't told you then? That his _crush_ is from _Dalton!_" Immediately everyone turned to look at me and I felt my cheeks flush.

"There was a Dalton guy at our practice?"

"He didn't come just to spy – we had coffee…" I replied trying to defend myself but struggling.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I tried but-"

"You _see_ Kurt? It starts off with coffee, then a duet in the library, then proclaiming his undying love for you – then he _stabs you in the back and walks off with the prize!_" For a second attention was diverted away from me to Rachel's outburst. She looked quite worked up and if I didn't want to stay out of the limelight I probably would have giggled.

"Rachel, how come it was fair for you to date Jesse but not Kurt with…?"

"Blaine. But we're not dating-"

"-How do you know he won't join New Directions?"

"Jesse and I were kindred spirits, being the only two people in our Glee clubs with pure talent. However apart from Finn all males are evil and manipulative, no offence Tina, therefore despite how nice and charming this _Blaine_ character may look, he will only bring you and this Glee club pain and suffering." Rachel sniffed indignantly and I gave her a sarky look.

"Well _Blaine_ is the only gay _friend_ I have right now, so I think I will see him whenever I want." I unlinked my arms and marched off to my locker, trying to look put out, but actually feeling pretty pleased that I'd just stood up to Rachel. It was all right for her, she had Finn and her ginormous ego to keep her company. If I found a friend, especially a totally gorgeous one, I was going to fight to keep him with everything I had.

* * *

I opened my locker to dispose of all the things I wouldn't need to take home with me, smiling at all the pictures I had of everyone inside the door. Hopefully I would have one of Blaine there soon – although I didn't think I was quite at the stage of having a little shrine dedicated to him or a framed picture like Troy in High School Musical. I was so busy thinking about situations where I could try and get a photo of Blaine that I didn't realise the figure standing behind the locker door until I closed it.

"Boo." I jumped so high I nearly dropped the sheet music I'd taken out to practise with that night. A hand reached out to steady me and I recognised the skin tone immediately. Holy crap.

"Blaine!" The word came out half as an exclamation and half as a breath. He grinned at me and I felt my legs turn to jelly, an equally large smile gracing my face.

"Fancy seeing you here."

'What are you doing here?" Not that I was complaining, but twice in two days was…it was great.

"Um…" Blaine bit his lip, as if he was struggling to think of an excuse. "I'd like to say I was spying again but…" He grinned cheekily and I blushed "History was getting really boring?"

"Wait, you skipped class?" I said in amazement.

"Kurt – I've had 100% attendance for every year I've been at Dalton – I think I deserve a lesson off." I stood there open mouthed. Not only had Blaine made the 2 hour drive for the second time to see me, he's also bunked off to do it.

"So…fancy another coffee? My shout of course." As he spoke he leaned casually against my locker, making me bite my lip to stop anything unsavoury coming out. It was only then that I realised that he was still in his Dalton uniform – something that was earning us a lot of looks from people passing. I guessed we should probably get moving before anybody kicked him out or he did anything else that would make me want to kiss him.

"Ok, yeah, sure, let's go." I made sure all my things were in order and went to leave, before another voice rang out through the corridor that instantly turned my blood to ice.

* * *

"Hey, homo!" I didn't want to turn around, didn't want to see him stalk towards me like the monster that he was. But I knew if I didn't the unexpected shot to the head would hurt more. It was amazing how a smile could mean so many different things – just as Blaine's made me melt and think of sunshine and rainbows, Karofsky's leerish grin turned me to stone. As he got closer the only way I could move was to shake. I shook from head to toe and it made him laugh.

"Wassup gay boy. He said again once he'd reached me. He stood so close I could smell the staleness of his breath and see the hairs in his nostrils. "What do we have here?" Suddenly he picked up some of the sheet music I was holding. He held it like it was diseased but looked at it carefully. "Ooh sheet music. That's what homos do isn't it? Sing little pretty songs with sheet music. Do you like to sing homo?" I said nothing, not wanting to make things worse. Karofsky's face turned darker.

"I _said_ do you like to sing HOMO?" With one foul swoop my entire sheet music went flying into the air, spiralling around and hitting people walking through the hallway, people that were tactfully ignoring what was going on.

"Hey!" I cried, reaching out to pick some of it up. A large force hit me in the chest and I went thundering into the locker behind me, my neck jarring so I shouted out in pain.

"SHUT IT- ARGH!" Suddenly the grip on my front collar released. I slid down to my knees in relief, before realising that something else was going on. Despite me pushing him away when I'd seen Karofsky, not wanting him to get involved, Blaine had seen enough. They were now eyeballing each other furiously, Karofsky much taller but Blaine with a glint in his eye that scared me.

"Blaine!"

"Who do you think you are? Pushing people around like that! How _dare_ you!" I waved my hand helplessly in the air to try and grab them, but they were too far away. By now a considerable crowd had gathered, obviously praying for a fight.

"I see homo has his own bodyguard now" Karofsky sneered. He didn't seem intimidated by Blaine at all, not the way I was.

"I am not his bodyguard! Now apologise-" With an almighty thud Blaine's words were cut off, as Karofsky's hand thundered into his face. I screamed and the crowd jeered. Chants of fight began to emerge and Karofsky raised his hands in celebration, a dazed Blaine stumbling around as his nose spurted blood. It was like something from a nightmare. Blaine tried to fight back but Karofsky was too strong, hitting him again in the jaw so he groaned in pain. I began to shout out for help, desperately trying to stand up, but thankfully someone else must have got the message through, as seconds later Principal Figgins appeared, his expression livid.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Immediately everything stopped. Most of the crowd dispersed quickly, a couple of them accidentally kicking me as they scurried away, and suddenly I felt the touch of Rachel and Finn, trying to drag me to my feet. Karofsky let go of Blaine, so he fell against the lockers for support.

"WELL?" Figgins shouted again, his dark complexion somehow managing to tinge red. Rachel was babbling something in my ear, trying to turn me around to face her, but I wasn't listening, my gaze fixed on Blaine's slumped body.

"He started it sir, I was only protecting myself!" Karofsky protested.

"Oh really? Then why is he the one with blood spurting out of his nose?" It was then that Figgins noticed the neat blue and red blazer, now ruined with bloodstains.

"Hey, you shouldn't even be on school premises! OUT! BOTH OF YOU!" I tried to voice my protest, but my throat was hoarse from screaming and nothing came out. As Figgins marched the two fighters out into the car park I felt Finn grab hold of my shoulders to stop me from getting up. I scrambled to break free of his grip, but he wouldn't let me go.

"Kurt! Kurt! Look at me!"

"Blaine! We need to go to Blaine!" Tears were beginning to blur my vision and my body shook. Eventually Finn's strength won and he pulled me round to face him.

"Kurt. Are you hurt?" He asked plainly and forcefully. His expression looked stern, but was also filled with pain.

"No, no, I'm fine. Blaine!" Now confident that I wasn't injured Finn released his grip, but still wouldn't let me run off. I noticed Rachel had picked up all my music and was putting into as neat a pile as she could manage. Impatient, I shouted Blaine's name again and finally they allowed me to run, following swiftly behind.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When I got outside I couldn't see Blaine anywhere. Panicked I spun round several times so I made myself sick with dizziness, shouting his name as loud as my voice would manage.

"Kurt! Over here!" Rachel cried and I stumbled over. Blaine was slumped against the wall of the biology labs, his mouth and chin now almost completely covered in blood.

"Oh my-" I had to stop myself from bursting into tears again. Blaine looked up and though one of his eyes was beginning to swell, I could see he was happy to see me. I don't know how, after what had been done to him because of me.

"No." Unable to look at what I'd caused, I turned away putting my head in my hands. Rachel let out a surprised noise.

"Kurt where are you going?" After that it was all too much. Wet droplets streaming down my face again I spun round, bounded over to Blaine and flung my arms around him, burying my head into his chest.

"I'm so sorry Blaine, I'm _so, so _sorry…" I whispered over and over again, the sound of his heartbeat still slightly raised from the adrenaline soothing me slightly.

"Come on, let's get him cleaned up."

* * *

"Thanks." Blaine took the steaming mug of tea from Rachel and sipped at is carefully. Finn had done a good job of cleaning up all his wounds, but in some ways it had made it worse. The bruises beginning to appear on his jaw and around his eye, not to mention his ever-swelling nose, made me feel sick and I'd had to retire to a sofa on the other side of the room, where I sat with my knees tucked into my chin. I wished it hadn't been him – I wish I'd had the courage to jump in the way and stop it. I was an awful friend and Blaine should stay as far away from me as possible.

"Kurt." The sound of Blaine's voice made my head jerk up instantly – again looking at his face was like being punched in the gut. "Come here." Reluctantly I dragged my feet onto the ground and trudged over to the chair next to Blaine's. As I sat down he held out his hand towards me but I ignored it. I didn't deserve his touch anymore.

"What's up?" I looked at him, shocked.

"_What's up_?"

"Yeah. You haven't gone near me since you guys found me in the car park. What's wrong?" I laughed, but it had no humour in the tone.

"Your face looks like a road crash and you want to know what's wrong with _me?_"

"Hey, way to make a guy feel better." He smiled and I stood up.

"Stop it. STOP IT! Stop acting like everything's fine when _I_ did this to you! I DID THIS!"

"Kurt, Kurt." I tried to avoid his hand but he grabbed it and pulled me towards him. "This is _not_ your fault."

"Yes it is, I-"

"-_I_ decided to get involved, _I_ got into the fight, _I _got my ass kicked in-" I shot him another stare and he quickly backtracked.

"Ok, ok, I know this is a serious thing. Do you think I've never been beat up before?" I paused, surprised. "Being gay is tough, I know. I've been in that position and I know _exactly_ how you feel! I just _wish_ you would have told me before."

"I'm sorry, I know" I replied, sitting back down on the chair "I was just…" In truth, I'd been having such a good time with Blaine, I'd totally forgotten about Karofsky and his vendetta against my sexuality. Blaine made everything good again, which is why it hurt so much so see him in pain.

"He scares me."

"I know – he scared me a bit too." I gave a short laugh, finding it hard to imagine Blaine scared of anything. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders and I shuffled in closer, letting my head fall onto his shoulder so the slightly scratchy texture of his cotton shirt rubbed against my cheek.

"Did you really get beaten up?" I asked cautiously, looking at his perfectly formed hands, a little bit of missed blood under some of the nails.

"All the time. There are stupid people in this world Kurt – that's never going to change. There are always going to be people that want to beat you up. But at the same time there are always people that will stand up for you. Always." He looked at me, sincerity in his eyes and I sighed, reaching up to stroke his swollen eyelid with my finger.

"You really bruise like a peach you know." I said with a smile.

"Well, you know what they say – guys like scars."

"I think you means girls."

"Well, I changed the rules for us." Us.

* * *

Blaine didn't stay for much longer. I wanted him to – I could have sat for hours just talking, watching the lines on his face when he laughed – but he had to get back to Dalton. Finn offered to drive him back (I wasn't allowed to offer on account of my 'ordeal') but he politely declined, we parted slowly at the door and then he was gone. He'd also told me that he probably wouldn't be able to visit much over the next week, something I obviously pretended I was ok with until the door shut behind him. A whole week.

"Hey." Finn said as he entered the room. I was sat back on the chair next to where Blaine had been, my knees back up against my chin and my left hand absentmindedly stroking the still warm patch on the seat. "You ok?"

"Yeah." I watched him sit down on the sofa opposite, obviously getting prepared to say something big. I loved it when Finn concentrated deeply on something, his face screwed up and he always clenched his hands together. Before I'd found it desperately cute, now it was just endearing.

"That Karofsky guy…" He started, but I'd already figured out his track.

"It's ok – there's nothing anyone can really do about it. He's never punched me, just a few shoves here and there."

"Kurt – it's never just a few shoves. We'll let Figgins know about this and he'll put a stop to it." Finn nodded his head reassuringly and I sighed. Yeah. Like that would make any difference. But it was nice he cared.

"That Blaine guy was pretty cool though," he continued, "standing up for you like that. That should have been me."

'Don't be silly-" I protested

"-I'm your brother now, I should have your back always. Why did I just stand there and let it happen?"

"Because you were looking after me, that's what was really important." I hadn't realised it until now but what Finn and Rachel had done for me during those moments was so crucial. I'd hated them at the time, but to be honest I don't know what could have happened if I'd tried to step in – I certainly wasn't anywhere near the fighter Blaine was.

"Things don't always have to be solved through a fight. Then you just become like the Karofskys out there. Blaine just got in the way, he was only trying to protect me…" My hand stopped stroking the seat and I stared wistfully into space for a moment, thinking about the fire in Blaine's eyes when he'd faced up to Karofsky, the determination to stop him.

"You really like this guy right?" Involuntarily I blushed. If there was anyone I found awkward talking about my love life, it was Finn.

"Um, yeah, I kind of do."

"I knew it." He replied, looking almost satisfied with himself. "You look like Rachel did when she was doing her psycho girlfriend thing." I laughed.

"Oh thanks Finn, way to go to make me feel good about myself."

"No, that was one of the endearing things about her. It's just who she is and that's what I love about her." I smiled, sending a couple of secret messages in my expression that Finn probably wouldn't even register. Like 'thanks' and 'I'm glad you're my brother'.

"Just promise me you wont ever wear a t shirt that says 'Blaine's Boyfriend' on it though." I wish.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

There was no blood next to my locker the next day. No traces of a fight or any of the pieces of sheet music Rachel had missed. In fact, the next day was just a normal day for everyone else at McKinley. Normal unless you were in New Directions,

"Kurt's being bullied?"

"Somebody punched Kurt?"

"No, somebody punched Kurt's boyfriend."

"Kurt has boyfriend?"

"Yeah he's a Warbler."

"You're dating a rival Glee club member?" I groaned, burying my head into my Marc Jacobs jacket. My phone buzzed and I welcomed the distraction.

**Wassup?**

I smiled, my stomach doing little flips again.

"See! That's him now!" I flicked my head back up to Rachel. Jeez she was not letting this thing go.

"No actually, it wasn't" I lied "and I'm _not dating him_!"

"So you generally get guys who allow themselves to be beaten up for you?"

"We don't talk about that." Flashing a thank you look to Finn I typed a quick reply of

**Ergh. You don't want to even know**

into my phone and prayed that Mr Shue would hurry up and get his ass into the room soon.

"So, is it possible for two guys to actually kiss?" Britney asked, her expression as confused as it always was. I laughed,

"Yes, it is definitely possible."

"Oh. I thought it was like magnets…"

* * *

In Trig we got the results of our test back – I'd passed but only just, all of my mistakes circled with bright red pen and comments of 'you can do better than this Kurt' and 'think next time, you've done this before' written next to them. As Mr Banner went on about the questions most people had make mistakes on I stared hopelessly at the screen on my phone until suddenly like magic a text appeared.

**Yes I do. Tell me EVERYTHING**

I sighed, glancing up to check nobody was looking before typing my reply.

**All of New Directions were talking about you.**

Mr Banner asked a question. I hid my phone and avoided eye contact. He asked Artie.

**Oh really? Nothing bad I hope**

I chuckled under my breath. Was there anything bad to say about Blaine? He was on the Warblers – well that wasn't his fault. He'd got into a fight – again not his fault. He was too good looking…

"Kurt!" With a jolt I escaped from my thought. Mr Banner was looking at me with impatient eyes. "Were you listening to the question I just asked?"

"No sir, I wasn't. Sorry." I slipped my phone in my pocket and looked down at my test, embarrassed. He was definitely going to make me fail Trig. That was the only bad thing about Blaine.

* * *

As I pushed the front door open there was another text waiting for me.

**You still haven't told me what they were saying**

I laughed, kicking off my shoes and pressing reply.

"Hey Kurt." My eyes glanced up and saw Dad. Instinctively I put my phone back in my pocket, as if I was afraid he might see the text from his position across the living room, or read my thoughts as I typed.

"Hi." I replied in surprise. "You're home early today."

"Yeah, I think I might be coming down with something. Man flu." Another chuckle escaped from my lips as I walked over.

"You can just call it a cold you know. Even real men get ill." I put my hand on his forehead to check his temperature, and noting a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead nodded.

"Am I not a real man then?" Dad asked, his voice now with a croaky edge.

"Depends whether you call it a cold or not." I suppose I was in no position to judge what a 'real man was', seeing as I had never claimed to be one myself. Dad laughed and I gave him a hug, not minding that he smelt strongly of motor oil and probably had some on his shirt somewhere.

"Get some rest and I'll bring you some soup later." I said when we drew apart. Dad saluted and I turned to pick my bag back up.

* * *

Finn wasn't in our joint bedroom – I guessed he was probably at football practice (Coach Beiste liked to spring last minute training sessions on them.) I dropped my bag next to my bed and wandered absentmindedly over to the desk, switching the computer on as I sat down in the plastic swivel chair. We were definitely going to have to sort this room out at some point – there were basketball-adorned boxers dangerously close to Manolos and manky bits of used dental floss next to perfume bottles. I got my phone back out of my pocket and brought Blaine's text back up, sighing as I re-read it. I went to press reply but was suddenly distracted by a bleeping sound from the computer. Looking up I saw my instant messenger icon flashing and clicking on it brought up a message.

**BlaineyBlaine wants to web chat. Accept?**

I grinned and immediately clicked yes.

There was a few seconds of delay as the computer loaded, but then like magic Blaine's face appeared on the screen. The swelling on his nose had gone down considerably and thought the bruises were still very visible, they didn't seem to be causing him as much pain anymore. I knew this because his mouth was stretched into a grin almost as big as mine.

"Hey." He said, once again making my heart melt with a single word. It took me a few seconds to form anything coherent to reply with.

"Fancy seeing you here."

"Have you forgotten how to use your phone?" I paused, wondering what he meant, before eventually realising.

"I've been at school! I was just about to reply…" I held up my phone to the camera to prove my point and Blaine laughed, again making my whole body turn to jelly.

"Ok, I'll accept that. But now you have to tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"What everyone at your Glee club was saying about me!" I laughed, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. How to phrase this without sounding too hopeful…

"They think we're dating." I replied sheepishly, almost wincing in anticipation of his reply. Instantly Blaine's expression went blank.

"Oh." He said very plainly. My heart sank.

"And they were also talking about the fight and stuff." I blurted out, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible. Blaine looked confused for a moment but managed to regain himself. My stomach felt like a large hole was beginning to open in it, swallowing me up from the inside.

"Ah, my mad fight losing skills are already a classic tale." He smiled and I managed a faked chuckle. What had that reaction meant? Did the idea of us as a couple seem stupid? Was he annoyed I'd even brought it up? Suddenly the image of his face created more questions I didn't want to answer. Like what I would do if Blaine wasn't as hopelessly in love with me as I was with him.

"Hey Kurt, you alright?" There he went again – working out everything I was feeling just from a look. Why did he have to do that? Make me feel so safe and secure around him, like he really cared. Did he really care?

"Um, yeah, my Dad has man flu so I should probably be taking care of him, I'll speak to you soon." I mumbled, reaching towards my mouse so I could close the window. Blaine immediately sat up, even though he had no way of stopping me.

"Kurt! Wait! Talk to me! What did I do?" I cringed inside at his words, knowing it wasn't him that had done anything, it was me. I'd held onto something I would never have. Blaine was just too good for me.

"Speak to you soon." I closed the window and shut down my chat so he wouldn't be able to request to speak to me again, Silence descended around me until it was replaced with the quiet sound of tears rolling down my face and plopping onto the wooden desktop.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The next few days were hard. Not only did I have Karofsky to avoid and sometimes deal with, I also had to deal with Blaine's constant texts.

**Kurt tell me what's wrong**

**Are you mad with me?**

**Why aren't you replying?**

**I miss you**

The last one was the worst. I'd received it towards the end of a Glee club practice and had to physically hold in the choking cry that flew into my throat. Mercedes had tried to talk to me about it, but I didn't want to broach the subject with anyone. It hurt too much to even think about it. Had I been kidding myself all this time? That the longing looks we'd shared, the times he had taken my hand, they'd all been gestures of friendship? I suppose it was possible that Blaine was a touchy feely person – I'd certainly met people like that before. Maybe the gestures were purely platonic and I'd simply built them up into something more, because it was what I wanted. I wanted Blaine to love me, so I'd made it so in my mind. Either way I felt sick of the thought of me pining over him and him laughing at my naivety. So I ignored every text sent, even the ones that made me cry.

"Kurt." Mercedes said as everybody else packed up. She'd picked her time perfectly because nobody else was listening but if I refused her people would notice. "Has something happened? Is your Dad ok?"

"Oh jeez, yes, my Dad's fine." I replied instantly, not wanting to jinx anything like that. Dad was still suffering with his man flu but he was fit and healthy compared to how he had been.

"What is it then? Blaine" The way my face creased up as if I'd been punched was hard to hide. Mercedes came over and put her arm round my shoulder, her face etched with concern.

"Did he do something to hurt you?" Her hand tensed up so I immediately shook my head, trying desperately to hold back the tears threatening to expel themselves.

"No, it was me that did something. I hoped…I hoped that-" And then it happened. Salty water came tumbling down my cheeks in one big rush, followed by a loud and desperate sob that made everyone else turn around.

"Kurt?" Finn immediately looked guilty – like it was always his fault when something bad happened to me. I wanted to tell him no, it's never you now, but I couldn't get my words out.

"Come with me, it's ok guys he just needs to talk."

* * *

Mercedes steered me out of the room through the corridor and into the girl's toilets where she finally let me go and another rush of tears came out.

"Kurt please, I need to know what happened – you're killing me right now!" I managed to restrain my tears, a large sob coming every now and then unexpectedly, and looked up at her.

"It's nothing really, I'm just being stupid."

"_Tell me_" I took a deep breath, still not wanting to say it out loud.

"I don't think that, Blaine, _likes me_, the way that I like him." Immediately Mercedes' face softened.

"Oh Kurt." Arms wrapped round my neck and I was yanked into her chest, the shock of the movement almost making me laugh. She began to say something else before we were interrupted by the door crashing open.

"What did I tell you? He gets you in his grasp and then _BAM! _Everything is ruined!" Rachel exclaimed, in a tone that was either celebratory or angry.

"_Rachel!_" Mercedes exclaimed back. "This is _not _the time!"

"Kurt I know it's hard, but better you learnt now what a scheming rat this Blaine guy is before Sectionals than after him and his _Warblers_ have taken our crown."

"Rachel!" This time it was me that called out. It hurt to hear his name, but I still wasn't going to let Blaine be slandered for no reason.

"It's not him, it's me – I lead myself on and he doesn't even know why I'm not speaking to him anymore!" At this Rachel stopped, obviously confused about how to react.

"Listen Kurt," Mercedes began, swivelling us so we were facing the other way, "Blaine made you happy, much happier than I've seen you in a long time. He may not like you in the way you want him to, but are you really going to throw away a really great friendship for that? He's the only guy you've met who knows how you feel…" I groaned, knowing she was right. I needed Blaine. And not just because he made my heart stutter.

"Damn you Mercedes." I said with a smile, so she grinned.

"So what, you're just forgiving him, like that?" I looked back towards the door.

"Rachel, shut up."

* * *

Finn and I walked home together, him filling the time with mindless drivel about what plays he was going to suggest for the Lima's game next Monday. I didn't really mind – it was nice to hear somebody else's thoughts instead of having mine run over and over again in my head. I hadn't quite decided what my plan of action was going to be, but if I received any more texts they would get replies.

"And then BAM!" Finn pretended to lob a ball, his shout making me jump "Straight to Puck!" I smiled, pretending I knew what the hell he was going on about and fished around for my keys when we reached the door.

The television was on so I figured Dad was feeling better. On hearing the familiar sound of crowds Finn was past me in a flash, almost leaping over the sofa, and I gave a quick wave to Dad before beginning to take my shoes off.

"Good day?" He called from his seat.

"Yeah. Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Can you see if there's any post I forgot to check." I placed my shoes on the empty rack (I was the only one that used it – Finn and Dad's shoes lay strewn around the doorway.), hung my coat up on a peg and turned to look behind. There were a few envelopes scattered around so I gathered them all up, wandering into the living room as I sorted them into a neat pile.

"Anything?" Dad was wearing his favourite sweats and, even though it was normally the height of rudeness, a baseball cap jammed on his head. Finn had spread himself across the sofa in the most ungainly way imaginable, and was probably going to get indigestion from the way he was stuffing crisps in his mouth.

"Yeah," I began to flick through. Bill, bank letter, junk, junk… "Oh." I saw Dad turn around out of the corner of my eye.

"Kurt?" I stared down at the envelope, with its neat handwriting and crest in the corner.

"There's one for me." I looked up, not quite sure what to do. Dad looked surprised.

"Any idea who it's from?"

"Yeah…um, I'm just going to go upstairs for a bit, I'll be down to make dinner soon. Finn?" I stared at my step-brother, who was so engrossed in the TV he hadn't listened to a word we'd said, "_Finn!"_ He jumped, sending a shower of crisps onto the carpet. "If you want more Spanish help just ask." He nodded quickly, before crying out at some ridiculous foul, which then sparked up a conversation with Dad.

"I'll just be upstairs then…" I mumbled under my breath, before trudging up the stairs.

* * *

As I shut the door behind me, blocking out the sounds of whoops and hollers, my eyes glanced back down to the letter. I wandered slowly over to my bed, sat down gently and ran my fingers along the envelope until I reached the edge and flipped it over. It was sealed well so I had to saw with my finger, making a total mess of the top and nearly tearing the letter in the process, but eventually I managed to wiggle it out. As I opened it I realised it wasn't a letter at all, but an invitation.

You have been cordially invited to

**The Warbler's Christmas Ball**

Join us at Dalton common room for an evening of fun, festivity and plenty of carols

**5pm – 11pm**

**Saturday 11th December**

Refreshments will also be available

(Please bring you invitation as your ticket into this event)

I stared at the invitation for several minutes. I was a work of art – obviously the hard grafting of some Dalton art student who had spent hours in his room drawing the intricate border and the Christmas bells that stood either side of the main title. If his colour schemes were anything to go by he would be a great person to decorate a house with. I wondered if the invitations had all been created individually or just photocopied really well and ran my fingers along the paper to check for indentations. If there were any they were too small to pick out. I spent so long analysing the look of the invitation that it was a couple of minutes before I even registered what it meant. I was invited to a Dalton event. It looked like it wasn't just for families, but then again it was invitation only. Maybe it had been sent to me by accident – there was probably a Mr Kurt Himmel wondering why nothing had plopped through his shiny silver letterbox. But it was too much of a coincidence. I flipped the invitation over and checked inside the envelope but there was no heart-wrenching message from Blaine, something I wasn't sure was a good thing or not. But it was definitely from him. This was his way of offering a truce, even though he had no idea what it was for. I sat back into my chair, pondering what shoes to wear. I was going to Dalton again, and this time I was invited.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The drive up to Dalton was long and laborious. Even though it pained me to realise, having Rachel with me had actually made the journey go a lot quicker – whether it was listening to her belt out Madonna songs whilst quietly picking out all the notes she got slightly sharp or flat, or arguing with her about the fact that not matter how you wore it – blue and orange did most certainly not go together. Driving with only the crackly radio of Dad's car was slightly saddening, but I still sang along anyway, as it helped me to take my mind off what I was about to do. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to play seeing Blaine again, I suppose it would all depend on how I felt, and how he reacted. I wasn't expecting him to be angry but I guess you never knew. He would most likely be confused, I would apologise and it would all be swept wonderfully under the rug. The very expensive Dalton common room rug. Well that was what I hoped anyway.

I saw the signpost and turned down the slip road, the massive structure of Dalton suddenly coming into view. My stomach dropped and a swarm of butterflies magically appeared inside it, all bashing against the sides like they were trying to get out.

'Here goes nothing' I thought.

* * *

I parked in one of the visitor spots, the car now looking very shabby in comparison to the rows of shiny Rolls Royce's and BMWs. There was even a Cadillac. The front of the building was all decked out in white lights and made the whole scene even more pretty than when I'd first admired it. Taking a deep breath I sent a text to Blaine letting him know I had arrived, before opening the door and getting out into the cold winter air. I had barely finished locking the car when the sound of approaching footsteps reached my ears and I looked up to see Blaine hurtling towards me.

"Kurt!" Without warning I was engulfed in a humongous hug, arms crushing round my sides so I had to gasp in some breath.

"Kurt Kurt Kurt…" Blaine rocked me backwards and forwards, his face resting against my shoulder and I breathed in the woody smell of his hair.

"Where have you been? I've been going crazy!" We pulled away and I finally got a glimpse of his face again. I smiled, taking in the colour of his eyes, the shape of his cheekbones, those wonderful eyebrows. I wasn't upset to see Blaine, I was just glad. I'd missed him too.

"I'm so sorry, there was a bit of a misunderstanding, but it's all ok now." Blaine shook his head in disbelief, then smiled.

"Yes, you're here now." He gave me another hug and this time I put my nose in the crook of his neck, savouring the feel of his skin against mine. "Come on, let's go inside."

* * *

If I thought the outside of Dalton looked impressive, I wasn't prepared for the inside. There was tinsel and holly adorning practically every wall or surface, red paper lanterns hung from the ceiling and even fake snow. I tried to imagine what would happen if they did this at McKinley and could only picture riots and Puck with a lantern wedged on his head. As Blaine led me through the main foyer and towards the common room the sound of music drifted over and I smiled, remembering how the same thing had happened all those weeks ago. We reached a large impressive looking wooden door and Blaine turned to look at me with a grin, before pushing it open with much gusto. I gasped. There were people everywhere, all dressed in designer smartness and holding glasses of champagne, the music was actually coming from a live band and a couple of the Warblers who had decided to do their own rendition of 'Jingle Bells' and the smell of mince pies was mouth watering. This party kicked McKinley's _ass_.

"Wow." I said, my mouth hanging slightly open as I tried to take it all in.

"You like?" I motioned pointedly to my open mouth in answer to his question and Blaine laughed. "We didn't quite have the budget from last year but we made do" he said. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not, so smiled and glanced around the room again. As all the Dalton boys were still dressed in uniform, it was easy to pick out the other people. There were quite a lot of parents milling about, but I also noticed several pretty looking girls on the arms of hunky students. In fact, there were lots of them.

"Is this a family event?" I asked, thinking back to my invite.

"Families and significant others." My neck snapped round to Blaine, shock written across my face,

"But...what…?" He laughed

"You're my significant other because you have a significantly perfect ass that I wanted to show to everyone." Instantly my face turned scarlet and Blaine took my hand, making my blush even deeper.

"Lets go mingle."

* * *

The next 20 minutes or so were kind of surreal. I met Dalton parent after Dalton parent, girlfriend after girlfriend and all of them seemed perfectly amiable, if not a bit posh. The weird thing was how Blaine acted. He held my hand the whole time, introducing me to everyone proudly and telling the story of how we had met endlessly. To the untrained eye, it would have looked for all the world like we were a couple, and a fully established couple at that. I was confused, but at the same wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get as close to Blaine as was possible, so joined it with the show and pushed stray bits of hair out of his face and fed him mince pies. The event seemed so formal but was in fact the complete opposite of that – just some friends and parents chatting together about things other than education and money. (Well, there was still quite a bit of talk about money. Obviously I struggled to add much to the conversation in those situations.) I was having fun.

* * *

"And then Professor Hardy just walked out of the room like he was about to explode!" Blaine's eyes widened with expression as he yet again told the brother debacle story. I loved the detail he put into it, like he remembered every second that had passed. I certainly did. One of the mum's went to say something when suddenly Blaine was tapped on the shoulder and a tall ginger haired boy motioned towards the stage.

"Oh, do excuse me guys – duty calls!" I felt his hand slip out of mine and almost made a noise in protest. It felt strange not to feel it there. Blaine strolled over to the rest of the Warblers and I wondered if I was going to have to start up a conversation with the parents without my sidekick, but after setting themselves up and clicking in the intro they began a rendition of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. It was beautiful. I'd forgotten how in sync the Warblers were with each other, how easily their harmonies flowed together and how the words just seemed to mean more when they sang them. Once again Blaine caught my attention and had me fixed – even if he hadn't been doing the solo I don't think I would have looked anywhere else. His voice sought out every part of my body and turned it to mush, wrapping me up into a cocoon of bliss. At one point his eyes caught mine and the smile that graced his face made me raise my hand up to my mouth. Nobody had ever looked at me like that. _Ever_. Once the first song was over they did several more, each one lovelier than the last and when they finished with 'Oh Holy Night' I grabbed myself some of the non-alcoholic punch provided for students in order to have something to do with my hands and to stop myself from keeling over.

As soon as the applause had died down Blaine beckoned me over and I struggled to prevent myself from running there. When I reached him he instantly held out his hand and I took it gratefully, happy to feel his fingers intertwined with mine once more.

"So, was that good or what?" He said cheekily. I was about to respond with some gurgling mush but he swiped my glass of punch from me with an "Ooh, thanks!" and I cried out in protest.

"Hey! That's mine!" Blaine pretended to drink, but then handed the glass back to me and took another one offered by the Warblers.

"This is Kurt guys, you remember him?" For some reason some of the guys were eyeing me with suspicion, I glanced back at Blaine and then remembered that to their knowledge, he had gone to visit me in Lima and come back with a bloody nose and black eye. Trying to look friendly I smiled and gave a small wave – a couple of them laughed but most of them smiled back. Wes and David were close by and they greeted me with a strong handshake, hopefully having been filled in on the whole story.

"Blaine talks about you all the time." Wes said with a grin.

"Yeah, 'Kurt this, Kurt that' – he won't shut up!" I blushed and Blaine immediately stepped between us, an annoyed look on his face.

"Yes, _thanks guys _for that, let's go over here…"

* * *

He steered us off into a large space before suddenly stopping right in the middle of it.

"Oh." He said, cocking his head to the side, "Listen to that." I listened and heard the sound of the band starting up again. People were beginning to join us in the space in pairs and they were-

"-Fancy a dance?" Immediately I stepped back.

"No, no way!" I could dance fine, but in this context? And with Blaine? I couldn't cope with the embarrassment. Blaine's mouth pouted.

"Oh come on, perleeeeeease?" Oh jeez, puppy dog eyes. He was pulling me closer and I was finding it hard to say no.

"I can't, here…" Suddenly he let me go and I sighed in relief, until he began walking away. "Blaine? What?"

"Stay there!" He replied, holding out his hand so I stood still. He walked to the edge of the dance floor, turned round, and then walked back in pretending he hadn't noticed me.

"Oh, hi there!" I put my hand over my mouth as he grinned "Look, I know this is a bit forward, but I came here without a date so I've got no one to dance with. I don't suppose you'd help me out would you? I'm Blaine by the way." Holding out his hand like a gentleman I let out an exasperated sigh, shaking my head.

"Oh Blaine…"

"And by the way, you do have the most significantly perfect ass I have ever seen." Cue a snort from Kurt. "Shall we?" Unable to stop myself from going red I held out my arms and let them settle in a lacklustre way. Blaine grabbed hold of them and pulled me in close, so our noses almost bumped together.

"Ooh, this is cosy." He said with a grin. I nearly died. Our faces were so close I could have reached out and touched his lips with my tongue. Oh _MAN_ why did I think about that? They looked so moist and gorgeous in the light…Come on Kurt, come _on_.

"You ready?" Blaine whispered. I nodded and slowly we began to move.

* * *

I'd already figured it out from watching him, but Blaine was a great dancer. He knew exactly how to lead and _exactly_ how to hold me – in fact I spent most of our time on the dance floor trying not to faint. We were only waltzing like everybody else but somehow our dance was the only one that mattered.

"You know," Blaine started as we twirled around – his voice still holding that whispery texture I loved, "I hate to say it, but Wes and David were right."

"Right about what?" I asked, my brain not even being able to process moments but this one.

"That I talk about you all the time. When you stopped texting me I kind of went a bit crazy." Suddenly guilt rushed through me again and I slightly loosened my grip on Blaine's shoulder. His eyebrows furrowed.

'See, there you go again. What did I do?" I shook my head, taking my hand out of position to run it along Blaine's forehead, trying to smooth out the creases.

"You didn't do anything, trust me. It's just me. Silly Kurt." A blissful smile graced my face and I watched it mirrored in front of me.

"Silly Kurt."

"_Silly_ Kurt."

"_Silly Kurt_."

* * *

The rest of the night flew by. In fact I could have danced for seven nights on end and not cared a bit. All too soon eleven o'clock chimed and with Dalton precision the party was over.

* * *

"Sssh!" Blaine had definitely had too much punch. (Somehow Wes had managed to slip something deadly into the concoction and before I knew it everyone was passing it round secretly.) Either that or his alcohol tolerance was shocking. As we staggered up the stairs towards his room I had to occasionally stop his swaying body from colliding into a priceless painting or a team photo, my arms clasped around his waist in a way that was ungainly but also nice. In a weird way.

"You sssh." We alighted the last stair and Blaine suddenly broke free of my grip to stagger over to a mahogany door. As I ran to catch up he slammed himself against it, making me cringe and then began feeling himself up to try and find his keys. The whole sight was rather funny, but to avoid any more loud noises I hoisted him up straight again and when somehow the keys reached his hands guided them towards the lock. The door opened and Blaine fell forward, sending me crashing down on top of him.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as my elbow hit the hard floor. Blaine burst into a fit of high-pitched giggles, causing me to shove my hand over his mouth and he rolled onto his back like a four year old. Oh Gaga.

"Come on Blaine, let's get you to bed." I whispered, trying to put authority in my voice. I went to hoist him up again but a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and batted me away.

"No Kurt, _Kurt_!" The giggles started again and I sighed.

"Blaine-"

"Kurt, I have something to tell you."

"Ok, tell me, I'm listening." I reached over to softly close the front door and Blaine moved himself up to a sitting position.

"I think I love you." For a second my heart stopped and my head snapped round, hope in my eyes. Blaine smiled, giggled again and then slumped down towards the ground. Of course. I got the drunk-love-confession Blaine. My hands darted out to catch his head before it hit the floor and his hand batted my shoulder again.

"I'm being serious. I think we should get marriedddd."

"Right, Blaine. Bed." Ignoring his giggles and sounds of protest I dragged him to his feet, spread his arm across my shoulder and began to stagger over to the rather plush looking bed on the other side of the room. In another scenario I would have admired the beautiful décor of his room, the pastel colours and soft fabrics teamed with the deep wooden floors and items of furniture. But this was not the time. With one last heave I let Blaine fall onto the bed, his face sinking down into the duvet until all I could see was the tops of his ears. I paused for a moment, wondering how I could have ever have got myself in this kind of situation, (the closest I'd ever got to a drunk person before was lairy jocks at pep rallies) admiring how even though his bum was slightly raised in the air and his hands were splayed over either side of the bed, Blaine still looked kind of beautiful, and then turned to leave.

"Hey!" Suddenly I felt a hand grab my blazer sleeve and I was yanked onto the bed, once again falling on top of Blaine. For his state he still had lightening reactions. I rolled over to rest beside him and saw his face turn slowly towards me, probably leaving a trail of dribble on the duvet underneath.

"Kurt stays here." A hand reached over to take mine, the fingers stroking my palm softly and I sighed, shifting over to my side and gazing into Blaine's eyes as he slowly drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Mmn, Kurt…" I smiled at the voice in my dream, slightly croaky, but in a way that was sexy instead of ill. I felt an exhalation on my face, warm soft breath, and then suddenly lips on mine in a small but slow kiss, moist lips that tasted like champagne and mince pies…

* * *

My eyes darted open.

"Blaine?"

* * *

The eyes of my kisser were glazed over, still half asleep, the expression on his face dreamy and beautiful. Then, like a switch, realisation hit. Blaine's eyes widened, his mouth opened to let out a scream and he moved backwards sharply, causing him to lose his balance and crash off the bed onto the floor.

"Blaine? Are you ok?" I said, almost laughing – I was still in shock. Blaine had just _kissed_ me. Was this finally the moment I had been waiting for, praying for, for all this time? I moved my body across the bed to look down and saw him beginning to drag himself upright.

"What just-"

"I am _SO_ sorry." My face fell.

"What?"

"I can't believe I did that, I'm so _stupid_!" Blaine got to his feet, rubbing his face roughly with his hand and my whole body went cold. Oh hell no.

"You're sorry?" I asked, my anger building quietly. This couldn't be happening…Blaine wouldn't do that to me. He wouldn't go all the way through last night like he did and then be _sorry_.

"Yeah man, totally. That was-" Oh wait – he would.

* * *

"-No, I'm sorry." He paused, looking confused.

"What?"

"I'm sorry that I ever came to this damn event for you. I'm sorry that I looked forward to seeing you again, I'm sorry that I had the best night of my life thinking that you cared about me and that we were the only two people in that room that mattered. I'm sorry for everything I've ever thought about you and I'm sorry that _you_ were too much of an ASSHOLE to tell me sooner!"

"Tell you what? Kurt, no!" I laughed, the sound suddenly devoid of any happiness, just harsh and sharp. Even now he just couldn't stop manipulating me.

"You don't let up do you? Give me a break, give _everyone _a break! I'm out of here." I stood up and began to stalk towards the door, hastily running my fingers through my hair to try and sort it out. Blaine stumbled after me, shouting things to try and get me to stop. I ignored him until I got to the door.

"You know, Mercedes said you were good for me, that you understood and could help. Well you don't understand _anything_!"

"Kurt-"

"-I HATE YOU!" And at that moment, I did. I hated Blaine for making me love him.

* * *

I didn't stick around to see his face crumple, turning around and wrenching the door open. By now tears were spilling from my eyes as they had done so often recently, my fingers fighting to wipe them away. Blaine tried to follow but the door slammed in his face. As I ran down the corridor and reached the stairs I saw a framed picture that I'd probably bumped into last night but hadn't noticed – it was of the Warblers, with Blaine as the figurehead. I don't know if it was to stop him from following me further, or just out of pure rage, but my fist slammed into the centre, the glass shattering around me and crashing onto the hard polished wooden floor. And then I left.

* * *

I knew I shouldn't be driving, but I had to get away as soon as possible. There was no way I could let Blaine catch me up – I was too scared that he would make up some more rubbish that would reel me back in again. As I screeched down the freeway, narrowly avoiding a Land Rover as I changed lanes, I realised in horror that Rachel had been right all along – that guys like Blaine and Jesse were only out to ruin your lives. Despite all the smooth talking and shows of affection, the only people they truly loved were themselves.

The sound of a horn blaring at me jolted me back to reality and I swerved out of the way of another car. This was ridiculous. Clicking on my indicators I moved into the hard shoulder and turned off the ignition.

* * *

Oh man. What had I done. As I rubbed my hands against my face, feeling them slide about against my tears, I suddenly became aware of the shooting pain in my right hand. My knuckles were covered in blood, with tiny little bits of glass still wedged between them – remnants of the picture I had destroyed. I tried to pick them out but my whole body was shaking, half in anger and half in desperate despair. What hurt the most, even more than my crimson hand, was the fact Blaine had lead me on. He'd actually let me believe that he liked me, that he wanted to hang out, that he wanted to _kiss_ me. I could have coped with the rejection if he'd been straight, and told me from the start that he wasn't interested. But instead he'd lead me through a merry dance – and now I was the fool in tears at the side of the road.

"AAAAAAH!" I hit my hands against the steering wheel, immediately regretting it as the pain shot through and I screamed out again. I needed to get home, get myself cleaned up. I would wash myself of everything to do with Blaine, and maybe, maybe then I could begin to move on.

* * *

I cursed forgetting to bring my keys as I waited for Dad to open the door. I really wasn't in the mood for explaining and he would obviously try and make that happen. When he eventually appeared before me I quickly pushed past, hiding my bloody hand in my blazer pocket – not even caring that the stains would probably take at least a few washes to get out.

"Hey Kurt, wait! There's-"

"-Dad I don't want to talk I'm going upstairs." My feet stomped up the stairs and I wrenched open my door to get inside as quickly as possible, slamming it loudly behind me so he would know not to follow. It was only when I turned around to begin my long rant of crying and kicking things that I realised someone else was in the room.

"AAAH!" The shock made me fall back into the door and I held my hand up to my chest. For a second the only sound was my heavy breathing. "Holy crap Blaine you scared the life out of me!" I glanced up and saw that he looked almost as bad as I felt, his hair dishevelled and his Dalton uniform creased to oblivion. Wait – what was he doing here?

"How did you get in?"

"You're Dad let me in, I-"

"Get out."

"Kurt-" His voice was filled with dejection, but also frustration. I opened the door again, ready to make a scene if he was going to refuse to cooperate.

"-I didn't leave for you to follow me back here and-"

"-KURT!" Blaine took three quick steps forward and I readied my scream. "Listen, you've got it all wrong"

"Oh really and how would-"

"-When I said I was sorry it's not because I kissed you, it's because I should have done this."

* * *

And then it happened. Blaine took one final step forward to reach for my shoulders, pull me in close and press his lips to mine. At first shock ran through my whole body, so I was unable to do anything but stand frozen, struggling to quite comprehend the feeling on my mouth. But then, slowly I gave into the soft lips, caressing themselves over mine in a way that was tender but also intense. I let the smell of old hair product and cinnamon surround me, the sickly sweet taste of sugar paint the tip of my tongue, the sound of lips on lips fill my ears. Blaine moved his hands along my face to grip the back of my neck, the slight twinge of the hairs he accidentally pulled only adding to the experience, and pressed himself harder onto me, letting out a little noise that almost made me hyperventilate. His tongue pressed against my teeth and I let him in – not quite believing that this was happening right here, right now. If I'd thought the morning kiss had been spectacular, well this hit that right out of the park.

When we eventually broke free it was only because neither of us had any oxygen left – we both stood there panting, me pressed against the wall and Blaine with his hand on the open doorframe, holding himself upright. I looked at him, pure shock in my eyes and he smiled the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.

"I hate to quote Twilight at a time like this, but _that_ should have been our first kiss." I laughed, a breathless laugh that almost sounded like I was crying. Holy mother of Prada, this was really happening. Blaine joined in, moving to kiss me again before his eyes glanced over my injured hand.

"Oh my God Kurt, what happened to your hand?" He went to grab it but I quickly hid it behind my back.

"Nothing, just when I punched that picture…"

"No, there's glass in it and everything, we need to-" Blaine tried to reach round, his chest bumping into mine as he did so, but I cut him off by launching a kiss at him – not as smooth as his had been, but just as effective. Unable to stop he let me push him over to the sofa, leaning back into the cushions as I scrambled on top of him, my pulse racing.

"You know what," I said as we paused for breath again "you are a total idiot for not letting me know sooner." At this Blaine stopped, pushing himself upwards so I let out a little whimper of disappointment.

"Hey – I think I made it pretty obvious." He said defensively. "I'd been planning that night for weeks, I just didn't count on me getting drunk and accidentally kissing you before I was supposed to." Now it was my turn to stop.

"So, you…"

"Yes, that was what I was _trying_ to say, before you ran off and started punching pictures."

"And the web cam thing…?" He sighed.

"_Yes._" I put my hand over my mouth.

"Oh boy, I am _so_ sorry!" Blaine laughed, taking my hand away and resting it on his cheek, pulling me in closer so he could wrap his arm around my side.

"It's ok now, it happened, _eventually_." I snuggled my face into his neck, sighing with pleasure at the sound of his heartbeat, almost in sync with mine.

"But if we are really going to work this boyfriend and boyfriend thing, you have _GOT_ to stop overreacting to everything I say." I laughed, stroking my fingers down Blaine's collarbone. There was only one word that had mattered in that sentence, the word I had thought I might never hear escape his lips. _Boyfriend_.

"I promise."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Somehow, even in the dreary grey winter weather, the colours of the McKinley lockers stood out more vibrant than ever, the sound of bustling students and shouting jocks sounded sweeter, even the smell of dried slushie on my jacket wasn't as sickly as usual. Now that Blaine and I were officially _together_, there was nothing that was going to get in the way of my happiness. To add to my delight, Karofsky and some of his cronies had been caught setting fire to some trash bags in the school grounds and had earned themselves a three-week suspension. So with only a minute number of jocks to avoid, I was free to gush and blab to anyone that would listen.

* * *

"I'm so happy for you!" Mercedes exclaimed suddenly in the cafeteria as we tucked into our lunches. (Hers consisted predominately of tots, mine a Caesar salad – I did have a reason to watch my figure now.) I smiled, stretching the grin that had been plastered across my face for most of the day almost to my ears. I chewed on my mouthful and marvelled at how even my taste suddenly seemed better now.

"Tell me again how it all happened." Man I loved this girl. Swallowing quickly I put my hands on the table and moved my head in closer.

"Well it was my fault it didn't happen sooner – I guess I just thought it was impossible that somebody as good as Blaine would actually like _me_ – but I did make some pretty bad decisions." I glanced down at my hand, which was now beginning to heal, but still looked like I'd attacked it with a chainsaw. "And so, I got back home in floods of tears to see him standing there, even after all I'd put him through, and he kissed me! Oh Gaga Mercedes I am the luckiest guy on the planet!" We both giggled excitedly before Mercedes' face dropped.

"Oh, code red _code red_!" Quick as a flash we erected the wall of textbooks we had on standby, bending down towards our meals as if they were the most interesting things in the room. A few seconds passed before either of dared to take a peek.

"All clear." I knew it was childish, but I didn't think I was quite ready to confront Rachel yet. Especially when sectionals were only a week away. Oh jeez, sectionals.

"What are you going to do?" I paused, wondering if Mercedes had been reading my mind.

"Honestly? I have no idea." It was the best problem I'd ever had in my life.

* * *

Finn had another surprise football practice that evening, but I wouldn't have waited for him even if he had been on time. All the way home I clutched my phone, reading the text over and over again.

**Hey beautiful. I think I need a bit more help with my sectional solo – fancy being my teacher? I'll be over at 5.**

I flew off the bus faster than I ever had before, my feet pounding the pavement until I reached home and flung the door open.

Dad was back at work fully recovered from his man flu now, so I had the house completely to myself. Excellent. The living room had been left in a complete state, so I set about rearranging it, (I was looking forward to the day Carole came back from visiting her friends in Cali – it was hard to keep up a cleanliness routine on your own.) glancing up at the clock every few minutes.

4:40pm

4:45pm

4:50pm

4:55pm

* * *

I guess I should have expected that Blaine would be exactly on time. Almost to the second – I'd been perched on the edge of the sofa with one eye on the window and one on the second hand. When the doorbell rang my heart lurched into my stomach and I almost fell over in my hurried attempt to scramble to my feet. Checking my hair one more time in the mirror as I passed and taking a very very deep breath, I opened the door. And there he was, in his shining, uniformed glory. For a second I struggled to breathe.

"Hi." I said meekly, my face going crimson. Blaine laughed

"Hi." And then he stepped forward and planted one on me. Right in the doorway.

"_Blaine!_ Blaine!" I exclaimed, the sound muffled by his mouth on mine. I pushed him away, but not enough to break bodily contact. "I do have neighbours you know!"

"So?" He actually looked confused.

"We should probably go inside." I replied, lowering the volume of my voice to try and make it sound a little more alluring. Blaine grinned, linking his hand with mine.

"Ok, lead the way."

As I took us both inside my heart was racing at a million miles an hour. Blaine had only been in my house twice and that was before we'd been romantically involved (our previous make-out session didn't count, as we weren't officially dating then. And it certainly hadn't been planned.) Hell, I'd never even _been_ romantically involved with a boy before – let alone allowed him into my abode. _Completely alone._ I paused by the now immaculate living room, but spying the huge bay windows looking out onto the street and hearing Blaine's impatient breathing behind me, quickly continued towards the stairs.

"Ooh, I like where this is going" He said suggestively and I had to stop myself from choking. Ok, so now I was taking a boy I was romantically involved with _up to my room_. I almost felt sick at the prospect. We alighted the stairs quietly, our feet barely making any sound on the carpet and entered mine and Finn's embarrassingly messy room.

* * *

Once we were fully inside I turned to close the door, but Blaine was tired of waiting. He hit me like a wave, moving straight into a full on kiss that I hadn't been expecting, the hand that wasn't still holding onto mine wedging into my hair. With a quiet thunk the guitar that had been slung onto his back dropped to the floor and we stumbled around trying to find a surface to rest on, our mouths never breaking contact. When we eventually found the sofa (this was becoming quite a nice habit) I was thrown down and Blaine followed swiftly, desire burning in his eyes. I wrapped my arms round his neck, pulling him closer, closer still, our kisses earnest and passionate. As our tongues explored each other's mouths Blaine groaned and I followed suit, running my hands down his back towards the tops of his trousers…

With a gasp Blaine broke free. Both of us were panting like we'd just run a marathon, Blaine was holding himself up over me but his arms were shaking, all his energy seemingly sapped away.

"Woah." He said after about a minute, his voice still completely breathless.

"Woah." I could feel my cheeks beginning to tinge as I realised just how involved I'd got into the kiss – I didn't think I was quite ready to even think about taking our relationship to _that_ stage, but obviously at that moment my hands had thought differently.

"Sorry." I added with a face. Blaine sighed sharply.

"Don't ever apologise for that Kurt, it was amazing."

"I just think we're going way too fast and I want to slow down, I don't know why I did that." I added hurridly. Blaine touched my face softly so I stopped talking.

"I know, I know. And I agree. I just missed you so much these past few days, I missed this." He let himself fall on me again, this time kissing me slower but still with the same intense passion. I melted into the sofa, my whole body filled with the purest of joys. Oh why oh why did my lungs have to be so small? I hated to stop for even a second. But sure enough our stamina couldn't last.

For a while afterwards we just lay together on the sofa, side by side, our noses touching in a way that was comforting and very pleasurable. Blaine stroked my face with that look in his eyes I'd seen at the Dalton Christmas Ball – it made me laugh how I'd not realised it's proper meaning then. There were no sounds other than ours – no whirring of a computer monitor or the buzzing of a light. Even the winter winds outside couldn't penetrate our bubble through the thick double glazed windows. It was only me and Blaine. It had only ever been us.

"Was it everything you thought it would be?" Blaine asked softly, his fingers tracing my cheekbones. I gave him a questioning look.

"Getting your first real boyfriend." I smiled, cupping his chin.

"Do you even have to ask?" Was my short reply, "It was everything and more."

"Well good, because I plan on keeping it that way." I figured we'd had enough time to rest, so abruptly swung myself on top of Blaine and began kissing him again, this time taking _him_ by surprise. We were just getting back into the flow of things when suddenly the sound of something heavy hitting the ground alerted out attention.

* * *

Turning my head round to see what the problem was I immediately swore under my breath. Finn was standing in the doorway, his football helmet and Spanish books splayed out across the floor from when he'd dropped them in shock. The look on his face was one I never wanted to see again.

"Football practice wasn't on, I came home and…" He mumbled, his mouth not really moving from its open gormless position. I sprang up from Blaine and shot him a quick warning glance to show he should do the same – he looked almost amused but still followed orders, smoothing his hair back into its neat side parting. Oh jeez – my first time alone with my boyfriend in my room and we were busted by my stepbrother.

"Um…I…Blaine…" I tried to explain but the words wouldn't come out. To make things worse Blaine smiled and said hi, causing my face to turn an even deeper shade of scarlet.

"I was just getting some tuition from Kurt," he began, his voice strained either from embarrassment or suppressing laughter, "on some, ahem, _songs_."

"_PLEASE_ don't tell Dad!" I pleaded, realising there was no way we were going to be able to talk ourselves out of this situation. Finn rapidly shook his head.

"Oh no, I am not going to tell _ANYBODY_ about this." His eyes were still glazed as he bent down to hurriedly gather together his things, the helmet teetering dangerously when he rose again. "Um, I'm just, going to, Spanish homework…" And with that he darted out of the doorway faster than I'd ever seen him move. Well, if seeing his stepbrother doing the dirty was what got Finn to do his homework, I was going to have to invite Blaine round more often.

* * *

"That, was horrendous." I said, turning to him when I was finally sure Finn was out of hearing distance. He laughed, pulling me towards him again.

"All part of the experience – just thank Prada that it wasn't your Dad." My whole body cringed at even the thought and he laughed again.

"We really should probably do some work on my solo though, incase he does come back."

"Yeah, good idea." I reached over to grab Blaine's discarded guitar and chuckled at the thought of Finn staring wide-eyed at his textbooks downstairs. He certainly wasn't going to get any sleep tonight…


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Another week passed and suddenly the fateful day was upon us. Sectionals.

The bus was rowdy to say the least. Santana and Brittany had started a sing off with Mercedes and Tina, Artie, Puck and Finn were making rude gestures at people we passed and Mr Shue was shouting at us to try and keep the noise down.

"Guys! We need to make a good impression when we arrive!"

"Oh impression smession – one note in to our song and everyone's going to bow down and worship NEW DIRECTIONS!" The whole bus cheered and Mr Shue shook his head, turning back to the road. I started out of the dirty window, watching the lines of the lane dividers flash past. White, black, white black… This was a huge moment for the club. Sectionals was by no means a walk in the park this year – if we could win well we would really have a shot at taking the regionals crown.

"Kurt? You're awful quiet?" Mercedes enquired, waving away Santana with her hand. I smiled weakly.

"It's just nerves." I was telling the truth – I was _really_ nervous. But not just about performing. Blaine and I had had a long talk about that fact that we'd be competing against each other – that one of use was going to win and one was going to lose. I knew how much progressing meant to New Directions, but I had also seen first hand the tireless work the Warblers had put into their set.

"Don't worry about Rachel – she'll get over it as soon as we start performing." I sighed as Mercedes highlighted the other reason for my downcast mood – ever since she had discovered my relationship status she'd refused to talk to me. Staring out the window also helped me to avoid the vicious glares she sent my way every few minutes, stewing in her own animosity. Rachel knew better than anyone that my connection with Blaine would do nothing to dampen a single part of my performance – but she felt like she had been betrayed and so was making me pay for it.

"If she hadn't been so eager to spy on our competition then all of this would never have happened." I said, laughing at the irony. I had Rachel Berry to thank for my love life.

"Exactly. Now let's get psyched up! NEW YORK HERE WE COME!"

* * *

When we arrived at the venue, suddenly the bus fell deathly silent. We were here, this was it. As Mr Shue got out to open the door for Artie I glanced down once again at my phone. Blaine had warned me that all Warbler mobiles would be confiscated until the final note of their performance, but that still didn't stop me from wishing his name would appear on the screen. As the door opened we were treated to a gust of cold New York air and everyone shivered.

"Brr, you think they could have hosted this thing somewhere a bit warmer" Puck moaned, making me chuckle. Typical Puck – unphased by anything.

"Well you know what warms the body? Warming the voice! Let's get those vocal chords moving people!" Oh yey. More exercises.

* * *

Our dressing room was about the size of our whole rehearsal area at McKinley – everything about the centre was massive, from the giant vending machines we had to physically drag Mercedes away from, to the huge speakers that boomed out set times and instructions for all the competitors. As I adjusted my tie nervously I noticed Rachel glaring at me again, so finally decided to bite the bullet and sort things out before show time got too near.

"Rachel." I started as I approached, not really knowing how to broach the topic.

"Traitor." She replied maliciously.

"Oh _come on_! You know this has nothing to do with me being a traitor. This is to do with Jesse and how he hurt you." Her expression darkened further and I knew I had hit the nail on the head.

"Have I ever missed a New Directions rehearsal? Has my singing been affected in any way? I even told you what arrangements they were using for Prada's sake." Sensing headway I took another step closer, turning both of us so we faced the rest of the group.

"You see that guy over there?" I pointed to Finn, who was having to be dressed by Quinn. "He's everything to you right?" Rachel nodded reluctantly. "Well Blaine is my Finn. You would never let Finn come between you and your dream, and Finn would never let that happen either. We all deserve to be happy – even self obsessed annoying people like you, so give me that chance. I think we both know he's nothing like Jesse. Who you could do _much_ better than by the way." Finally, the smile I'd been waiting for all this time graced Rachel's lips. She turned to me and grabbed both my hands.

"If you out-sing me because of your 'new found happiness' I will personally cut your head off." I laughed and we both walked to rejoin our comrades.

* * *

The theatre was a buzz with noise. The Hipsters had just finished a rather good rendition of 'The Living Years' and everyone was talking about it.

"I thought it was good"

"Yeah, but the harmonising wasn't perfect"

"There's no way they're better than us"

"Jeez guys, they're a bunch of old people"

"Are any of them ghosts?" I failed to comment on the performance – in truth I had enjoyed it but felt it would be no match for the other two performances coming the audience's way. My attention was now focused on quietening down the millions of butterflies that had now started hurtling around my stomach. Next were The Warblers, and then, we were up.

"So, Kurt – you ready?" I glanced at Mercedes, who was looking at me with an encouraging smile.

"No." She laughed and I joined in, a nervous high-pitched laugh that sounded very odd, even from me. I was about to turn my attention to the stage when suddenly my phone buzzed in my pocket, making me jump. Who was texting me now? Hoping it wasn't Puck sending me something stupid from Finn's phone I delved into my pocket, bringing it out and looking at the screen. It was a number I didn't recognise.

"Who's texting you?" Mercedes asked, craning her neck to look. I shrugged my shoulders, pressing open.

**Just wanted to say good luck.**

The butterflies in my stomach went into overdrive. It couldn't be…? Before I could think any further the lights went down and suddenly the next act were announced on the huge tannoy.

* * *

A large spotlight on the stage revealed the Warblers in perfect formation, their uniforms immaculate and identical – Blaine in the centre. My heart lurched. The music began from the back row and then the performance hit it's full swing. It was just like when I'd seen it all that time ago, standing there in my naivety with Rachel. It was just like that, but better.

Despite all the smooth dancing that was going on and the amazing harmonies, once again the only person I could look at was Blaine. He was exquisite. As the words spilled from his mouth, winding their way around the room – I thought back to the private concerts I'd witnessed, the performances meant only for my eyes in my bedroom with only a guitar. The thought made me shiver. I knew he was focusing on the performance, owning the stage with barely any effort, oozing professionalism and class, but a part of me begged for Blaine to look at me. Just a glance, an acknowledgement, a smile. A hand in my direction and a shout of 'that's my boyfriend, right there, Kurt Hummel' – that would also be good. The whole performance I kept my eyes fixed on him, praying I would catch his attention, but to no avail.

The song came to its final note, the climax of harmonies and I went to clap when suddenly something stopped me dead. Finally Blaine looked at me, he looked me straight in the eye and his lips moved to mouth a single phrase. A phrase that for a split second stopped my heart completely.

'I love you'

"_Oh my GOD _did you just see that?" Mercedes was going crazy, shaking my shoulder, her squeals lost amidst the cheers and applause of the audience. I couldn't answer, couldn't even speak – just sat there with my mouth open. Had that just really happened? To anybody else in the theatre it would have been a small thing. They would have possibly wondered for a split second what Blaine had been mouthing, but it would have then been eclipsed by other more important thoughts as they looked at the programme for the next act. His words hadn't been directed at anybody else – they only mattered to one person. Me. _Blaine loved me_.

My astonishment was short lived however, suddenly there was another hand on my shoulder, Finn pulling me to my feet.

"Come on dude, show time." I stumbled a few paces to the left before shaking my head vigorously to wake myself up. Game face Kurt, game face. It was on.

* * *

Our performance was good. Really good. Sam and Quinn stole the show with their walk through the crowd ala Finchel and the dance routines Mr Shue had spent hours coaching us to perfect went without a hitch. It felt amazing being up on a stage in front of everyone again – liberating. Of course, despite the situation, it was hard to keep other things off my mind. As I wasn't the centre of attention it was more kosher for me to look around the auditorium, searching for that familiar face. He was there, right at the back, his eyes fixed on me and only me, just as mine had been. Rachel would probably say such a declaration was some kind of tactic - a way to catch me off guard and affect my performance – but if anything it made me sing louder, dance harder, smile bigger than I ever had before. All too soon it was over, the audience giving us a standing ovation that sent shivers down my spine. It was definitely a two horse race this year, but who would win? I had no idea.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Woo! Yeah!" Everyone was hollering and cheering as we left the stage, adrenaline coursing through the room like an electric current. We were instantly greeted by Mr Shue, the smile across his face bigger than I'd ever seen.

"You did it guys!" He exclaimed, pride bursting from his voice, "you rocked!" We all ran into a group hug, jumping up and down singing and shouting happily. I wanted to go back out, do it all again. But now all we could do was wait.

* * *

When we broke away, excited chatter bubbling all around, I turned towards the mirror to fix my hair, but Mercedes grabbed my sleeve.

"Kurt, look." I glanced in the direction of her outstretched arm and my heart skipped a beat. Blaine was running towards me, his face lit up with a smile also impossibly big. I met him halfway and felt my feet leave the ground as he picked me up, spinning me round in a tight and loving embrace.

"Kurt, oh my goodness you were amazing!" He gushed, whilst we parted, keeping our faces close together as he stared into my eyes, the visible adoration making my legs turn to jelly.

"Blaine…" I replied – it was the only thing I could say, "Blaine, Blaine, Blaine…" He leaned forward to kiss me and I closed my eyes, savouring the moment as if it was our first all over again.

"That text, was it you?" I asked once my lips would cooperate – I still wasn't quite able to broach the other subject yet. Blaine grinned.

"I paid some stranger fifty bucks to send it right before we went on. Said if he didn't I'd get my Mafia contacts to destroy his nice Porsche parked outside."

"Mafia contacts? But you don't have any…"

"Well – he didn't know that." I laughed, my face still inches from Blaine's and, after a pause, finally felt I was ready.

"Did you mean it?" There was no explanation necessary – I knew he would understand what I was talking about. Cupping my face with his hands and bringing us in closer still, Blaine sighed.

"Of course I did. I know we said we'd take things slow, but sometimes the knowledge that two people love each other is what spurs them on to make it slower – to ensure it survives. That it's worth it."

"But we're competing-"

"-Oh competing shmeeting – _I love you_ and that's all that matters." There it was again. Blaine smiled and I felt a single tear fall from my eye, rolling slowly down my cheek until it dropped onto his palm. He reached to softly kiss the tear track and I laughed. No guy had _ever_ said they loved me.

"Oh." Suddenly Blaine jerked up, an awkward look in his eyes. My whole body froze. "I just realised you haven't actually said you love me yet – sorry to make all those assumptions." I paused, checking to see if he was being serious. Then I burst into laughter.

"Oh my Gaga, Blaine, _I love you,_ but you can be so stupid sometimes!" Throwing myself onto him I didn't care that the whole of New Directions were probably watching. Blaine loved me and I loved him – in fact I was pretty sure that in different ways I'd loved him pretty much from the first time we'd met. This was the best feeling in the world.

* * *

"Erm, I hate to break up the party you guys, but he shouldn't really be here." Suddenly a voice broke our moment and I turned my head to see Mr Shue looking sympathetically at us. "It's New Directions only."

"That's ok sir," Blaine replied immediately and politely, ignoring my attempt at a protest, "I'll go now."

"No…" I whispered softly, my hand still grasping onto his as he stepped away, eyes pleading for him to stay. Blaine flashed me a smile and a look that said 'I'll be back soon' before finally breaking free and walking out of the room. I wanted to shout at Mr Shue but knew I shouldn't – he was only following the rules after all, and we didn't want to get disqualified.

"Sorry Kurt." He said apologetically. I shrugged.

"It's ok."

* * *

Suddenly I noticed Rachel exit the room very quickly, a furious look on her face. Intrigued, I went to follow but like magic Finn appeared in front of me, a big cheesy grin on his face.

"Hey Kurt!" He exclaimed, standing so his body was blocking my view to the door, "what's happenin? We were pretty cool in that performance eh?"

"Where did Rachel go?" I asked, sensing something was up. The first signs of distress appeared in front of me.

"Rachel?" Finn asked, mock confusion on his face. "What? Did she leave?"

"Yes…she just went out the door…" I gave him a look and watched his resolve crumble.

"She told me not to tell you, so you wouldn't follow…"

"_Where is she_ _going_ Finn, _tell me_." Suddenly he folded his arms defiantly.

"I can't. I won't. You're not getting past."

"I'll tell Carole about how your Trig report card was actually mine…"

"Off you go, have fun!" I grinned, walking past to the doorway. That was one of the most beneficial things about living with Finn – I had even more ammunition to blackmail him with.

* * *

When I reached the corridor I ran in the direction I'd seen Rachel go, slowing down when I began to hear loud clomping footsteps up ahead. If that was her, she definitely didn't sound too happy. Peeking round the corner I glimpsed a flash of deep red dress and then heard a door fling open.

"HEY! YOU!" That was definitely her. Creeping round I noticed she'd gone inside one of the small cloakrooms designated for the Warblers to use. Wait – the Warblers?

"Oh, hi Rachel, how are you?" Oh my Gucci, Blaine was there.

"YOU! How _DARE_ you act all nice and friendly to me! I know your game!" My whole body cringed. Half of me wanted to rush in and stop but the other half knew it probably wouldn't solve anything.

"Woah, guess you still don't like me then." I braved peeking further around the wall to see Blaine with his back against the shoe racks, his hands raised defensively. Rachel had her finger outstretched, accusation filling her whole posture.

"You think I don't see through your act? That I don't know what you're really after?" She said, her voice shaking from the anger. "Kurt isn't like that."

"Hey, what are you talking about?"

"I'm _talking_ about the little stunt you pulled earlier. 'I love you'! How _could_ you?" Instantly Blaine's hands went down.

"So _this_ is what you're angry about? That I told Kurt I loved him?"

"_Yes_! Of course it is!"

"Oh Rachel…" He stepped forward, making her recoil as if he had a disease. "I _do _love Kurt. I think I've loved him for a long time, I just didn't realise it until now." Rachel scoffed.

"Hah, like I believe that."

"You think that just because we're from different schools I'm out to sabotage everything? If I'd wanted to do that I could have told him sooner and then broken his heart. I nearly couldn't go on myself I was so nervous, wondering how he would react." For a brief second Blaine paused. I could feel my heart beating at one hundred miles an hour – it was so loud I was worried the noise would notify them of my presence.

"In fact, you know what?" He continued, taking another pace forward. Rachel seemed to be struggling for comebacks. "I don't actually care who wins Sectionals. If we win, great – but if New Directions win I will be happy. Happy because I know the work you guys all put into your set and the imagination of it – but also because it will make Kurt happy. And when he's happy, I'm happy. I _love_ him Rachel. I promise you – _I love him_." My eyes had been fixed on his perfect form as he spoke, emotion welling up inside of me as the realisation hit me all over again – but now they flashed to Rachel for her reaction. For a while there was nothing, just silence. Then, slowly, she took a step forward so their faces were a few inches apart. A stand off.

"Ok. I believe you. I don't want to, but I do." Blaine's expression relaxed, but it was short lived. "_However_, let me tell you this. If you do _one _thing, _one SINGLE thing_ to hurt him – I will hunt you down and kill you."

"Rachel-"

"-No! Listen to me. Kurt is not only one of our best singers – he is also my friend." Shock ran through me. I was Rachel's friend? "He deserves only the best, the best guy to make him realise that it's ok to be how he is, that he's special. Don't screw it up."

"Oh believe me, I have no intention of doing that."

* * *

After that, there was only silence. Blaine and Rachel were obviously looking at each other, the realisation that they had both been accepted sinking into their pores. I didn't bother to watch anymore. Slowly, I slid down the wall I had been resting on until I was in a crouch, shaking my head in disbelief. I didn't even care that Rachel was probably going to walk round the corner at any moment, busting my covert spying operation. It was funny that it came down to spying again. And somewhat ironic that I would probably get caught. Not only did Rachel now fully accept and understand Blaine and I, she considered me her friend. And that, from the most self-centred person on that planet, was pretty phenomenal. I stared up at the ceiling smiling and waited for my cover to be broken.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Hmmm.

I stared down at the assortment of carrots laid out in front of me. Did I want long and thin, or short and thick? A smile graced my face as I thought of the crude comments Puck would be making behind me if he were here.

It was over a week since we'd heard the result of Sectionals.

* * *

The atmosphere on the stage had been almost too much to bear, tension zinging around and making everybody shake with nerves. New Directions were in the middle with The Hipsters on our right, the powerful spotlights glaring down on all of us, showing the floating specks of dust in the air. Trying to stop my hands from violently shaking about I had taken a glance to my left, but for once Blaine wasn't looking my way. His eyes, like the rest of the Warblers, we set dead forward, eyes on the prize we were all fighting for. Regionals.

"And in third place…" The announcer boomed through the hand held microphone he was clutching. He looked like a man in the middle of a divorce, his tie was loosened around his neck from when he'd been wringing it backstage and his shirt had many creases in it from poor ironing.

"The Hipsters." Well that was no surprise. We still clapped them anyway – I suppose in any other competition they could have done really well. But it had always only ever been our race to win. Then the attention turned to the main event. A hand clasped mine and I looked to see Mercedes shaking almost as violently as me, mumbling prayers under her breath.

"And the winner of this year's Sectionals is…" We held our breath, waiting… And then there was a commotion. The announcer looked confused, called to the wings for some assistance. A woman with a headset appeared, muttering something nobody else could hear. They both glanced at the paper, hushed whispers now beginning to rush round the room. What was going on?

"Erm, it looks like…" We all turned to our left, questioning eyes searching for answers. "It looks like it's a draw."

"What?" Mr Shue stepped forward at exactly the same time the Warbler coach did, both of them with indignant expressions.

"The judges couldn't decide. You both progress to Regionals." For a brief second there was total silence. Then the whole auditorium erupted. My hand jerked into the air as Mercedes threw up hers, a high-pitched scream flying from her lips.

"WE DID IT! WE'RE THROUGH!" Slowly the realisation hit and bubbles rose from my stomach, exploding out of me as excited laughter. We'd done it.

"WE DID IT!" Jumping up and down my mind was ablaze with millions of different thoughts, all of them jostling for prime position. But for once I was happy I couldn't concentrate. Suddenly I was hit with something else – hands from behind, strong hands that pulled me into a fierce embrace.

"WE DID IT! TOGETHER!" Turning around I pulled Blaine into a passionate kiss, joy flowing through me like I'd just won the lottery. New Directions had won Sectionals, but so had The Warblers. Neither of us had lost. We'd both won.

* * *

Nearly four weeks had passed since I had met Blaine. Four long weeks of excitement, pain, misunderstandings and eventually, happiness. The carrots I was looking at were situated in a small supermarket equi-distant from Lima and Dalton. Blaine had invited me to spend Christmas Eve with his parents and I was retuning the favour for Boxing Day. Now, long or short…

Suddenly I felt a tug on the bottom of my Stella McCartney jacket.

"Daddy?" I spun round, nearly knocking over the 'Fresh vegetables' sign sitting next to the carrots. At first my eyes couldn't see where the voice had come from, but then as I felt another tug I looked down and realised it belonged to a small boy. He could only have been about five, he barely came up to my hips, but he was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. Bouncing curls of black hair framed his face down past his ears, deep hazel eyes set into his rosy-cheeked face with a ridiculously cute snub of a nose. He was also dressed in a pair of dungarees with one of the straps broken and hanging down onto the floor – something I would normally have found dreadfully annoying, but somehow in this situation only seemed to add to his cuteness. Instantly my whole body melted and I crouched down so our heads were at an equal level.

"Hello there little man." I said, almost wincing at the sickly tone my voice had taken on and the way my mouth had flopped into a dreamy smile.

"You're not my Daddy." The little boy's face scrunched up in confusion, almost making me fall over. His tiny hands were clutching ferociously onto a packet of sweets – they looked like Red Vines.

"I know. Where is your Daddy…?" I asked the question, but didn't really make any attempt to look. Whoever this Daddy was, I wanted to ask if I could have his son.

"My Daddy is really tall with brown hair and-" I was enwrapped, but never got to hear the end of my new love's sentence. It was broken by the shout of another adult, an angry shout.

"Darren!" My head jolted up and my eyes widened in surprise as a man who looked remarkably similar to me strode up to us, a worried look on his face.

"Don't you go running off like that again!" Briskly he grabbed the free hand of his son and pulled him towards him protectively. I could see the relief in his eyes as little hands reached upwards.

"Daddy!"

"I guess you found him then." I muttered, surprised at how sad I sounded. The father shot me a dark glance and I returned to my feet rapidly, realising how odd I must look.

"Bye Darren." The words spilled unexpectedly from my lips, accompanied by a rather creepy wave that made me cringe inside. However, the little boy had no interest in me now, ripping open the packet to bring out a long red strip of candy and the father marched them off towards the till, where a female figure stood loading up shopping.

* * *

"Kurt?" As I watched the pair leave I was jolted back to reality by a voice behind me. Spinning round I saw Blaine holding a packet of brussel sprouts, his expression questioning.

"These are the ones you said right?"

"Yeah, you put them in the microwave…" My reply was lacklustre and he picked up on it.

"What's up?" Turning back to the tills I gestured towards Darren and his family.

"I want one." Blaine chuckled.

"You know they keep you up all night and puke everywhere?"

"I don't care – I want one. Please?" I glanced back and he grinned, slipping his arms around my waist and kissing me lightly on the lips.

"Maybe in a couple of years."

And then it hit me. One day, when a child tugged my jacket, it wouldn't be mistaken identity. They would be mine. I would be the father chasing after his wayward child, and Blaine would be the partner feeding items through the till. It was an interesting thought – one that scared but excited me at the same time. Because even if I did have to wait a few years like Blaine had said, that would be a few more years with him. A few more blissful years with Blaine Anderson. And I was going to hold on to every second of that happiness with everything I had.

_- Fin -_

_

* * *

_

I want to thank everybody who has read this story, especially the people that have reviewed chapters and even promoted me in their fics. I have really enjoyed writing it.

I have at least two more story ideas in the pipeline, one that's nearly finished and should be posted pretty soon and one being written as we speak, so please keep your eyes peeled and continue to read my work.

I didn't ever think people would actually read this, so thank you again for making my day :D

Long live Klaine!

Liz xxx


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